The Fate of One
by Charlieboyyy
Summary: Set two years after Season 2. The Dark Ocean and it's lingering threat pose as the Digidestined's final test. But with their own personal issues to face, will they be able to overcome it or will they allow despair to reign? Mainly Takari. COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1: Eye of the Storm

Hey, everyone! I'm really hoping you guys will like this story because I have big plans for it! As I mentioned, it occurs two years after the second season ended and one year after the movie, 'Diaboromon Strikes Back.' If you guys haven't seen it, don't worry; it plays a minimal role in this story. You'll understand everything without it. But I recommend you guys watching, just for the sake of following along the Digimon story line.

However, if you guys haven't watched Digimon season 1 or 2, then I HIGHLY recommend you do because a lot of this stuff will go back to certain points within the show and you guys will just get confused if you don't understand what's going on. I'll try my best to inform the readers of past events throughout the story but it's not my priority. So watch the shows! I will, at the end of chapters, give the episode where I got my information so you can watch to make more sense of the story.

As I stated before, it is a Takari fic but other involvement will be included; it's not going to solely focus on TK and Kari, although they are the main characters.

Some extra information to help you out, even though it's in the story:

TK - fourteen years old, ninth grader  
Kari - fourteen years old, ninth grader  
Davis - fourteen years old, ninth grader  
Ken - fourteen years old, ninth grader  
Yolei - fifteen years old, tenth grader  
Cody - eleven years old, sixth grader  
Tai - seventeen years old, twelve grader  
Matt - seventeen years old, twelve grader  
Sora - seventeen years old, twelve grader  
Izzy - sixteen years old, eleventh grader  
Mimi - sixteen years old, eleventh grader  
Joe - eighteen years old, 1st year in medical school

It was kind of hard to figure out their age but after searching the internet for a long time, I concluded that this is the closest I'll get to getting it right. If not, please bear with me and just go with it. Thank you!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON!

* * *

_**The Fate of One** _

**Chapter 1**

"Come on, guys. We've been over this before; it's no big deal." TK Takaishi explained to his friends, sighing tiresomely. "Kari and I are just best friends." All the blonde fourteen year old wanted to do was eat his lunch with his buddies in the cafeteria but somehow, he found himself discussing the one topic that seemed to follow him where ever he was in school.

"I'm just saying, I have never heard of a girl and a guy being _just_ best friends." One of his friends piped up.

"Come on, TK. Every where I go, I see you with her! You can't tell me you guys don't have feelings for each other." Another guy stated.

The Digidestined opened his sack lunch and took out a sandwich. "I'm telling you guys for maybe the thousandth time; She and I are just really good friends." The blonde frowned. "How long are you guys going to keep pestering me about this?"

"Until we get the truth." They all replied in unison.

He groaned in response. "How long has it been? Like two years? Two years of constant teasing? You guys know this has carried on since I first moved here?"

"You know, she's really pretty; I wouldn't mind going out with her." Someone stated, ignoring his outcry.

"Oh yeah, I wouldn't either. You'd be lucky if she went out with you, Drake!"

"Shut up."

TK shook his head in disbelief and simply took a bite of his sandwich. His friends laughed at his reaction.

"Aw, TK! Don't be mad; you know we're just teasing."

"We know. You and Kari are just friends…with _benefits_." Everyone chuckled at the statement. The victim of the teasing made a face and kept chewing.

"So anyways, getting serious; who are you going to ask to the winter dance?"

The Child of Hope started to talk but realized he still had food in his mouth. Waiting a couple seconds, he swallowed his food.

"I'm not sure yet. I haven't really put much thought into it. I'm not even sure if I'm going to go."

"What??? Are you serious? It's our first dance as high school students! You have to go!"

The sentence echoed throughout the Digidestined's mind. TK still couldn't believe he was in high school. It seemed like only a couple days ago when he and the other Digidestined defeated MaloMyotismon to end the threat of evil within both the Digital World and the real world. But reality was that that event actually took place two years ago. Those two years however felt like it simply blurred by TK, moving extremely fast and at such a quickened pace that, before he knew it, he found himself graduating elementary school and trying on uniforms for high school.

Of course, not much had changed within the two years; the Digidestined went about their lives in a routine fashion. Since TK was in high school, he saw many of the older Digidestined frequently, because they were entering their final year in school, and also spotted his generation of comrades as well. While they didn't necessarily keep in contact with each other as much as they used to, they were still close friends and were there for each other if needed. With no indication of any looming danger presenting itself since the internet fiasco with Diaboromon that occurred the year before, peace and tranquility seemed to have settled in, allowing the kids to go about life with a trend of normalcy.

For TK, normalcy simply meant getting by in high school which, despite having started almost a month beforehand, still seemed foreign to him and performing well on the basketball team. It was a simple and straightforward way of living but the only way the blonde would want to live.

"Earth to TK?"

The tall basketball star snapped out of his deep thoughts and reverted his attention to his friends.

"Sorry, what was that?"

"Why aren't you going to the dance?"

"Oh." TK shrugged. "I don't know."

One of his basketball teammates shook his head. "I don't understand you sometimes, TK. _You_ of all people not going? Most of the girls at school would _kill_ to go with you to the dance! I mean, come on man! You pretty much have the choice of any girl!"

The blonde blushed furiously at his friend's comment. "Stop it Jason. It's not that. I'm just not sure yet."

"Why don't you go with Kari?"

"Yeah! She's cute. I'm sure she'll want to go with you!"

"If not, then I heard Kat wanted to go with you too!"

"Oh yeah, she's really cute!"

"But I wanted to ask her out!"

"Yeah right; like you have a chance, Tony."

TK sighed as he wiped some crumbs off his school uniform. He had a feeling it was going to be a long day.

* * *

Kari felt uncomfortable as she quietly ate her lunch with her friends. 

"Well, Kari?" One of her friends asked as the rest peered at her intensely.

The chestnut haired girl shrugged. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? You talk to him everyday. You guys haven't talked about the dance yet?"

"Not…really." She admitted. Her friends started to mutter loudly between each other as if discussing about something. Finally, a voice piped up. "So, do you want to go with him to the dance?" They were of course referring to TK, Kari's best friend.

Truth be told, the brunette couldn't think of anyone else she would feel more comfortable going with to the dance; she trusted TK more than anyone else, with the exception of Gatomon, and grew very close to the young boy. With all the experiences they had shared, and the countless amount of times they relied on one another, it came to no surprise that she naturally became best friends with him. But, unfortunately, their friendship had often been misunderstood. Throughout school, she had to constantly defend herself as being only 'best friends' with the blonde because of the never-ending assumption that she and him were more than just comrades. Not just at school either. Her closer friends, the Digidestined group, even teased her and TK about their relationship. It irritated her but mostly it made her feel uncomfortable to be put in the situation. What made it worse was that almost every girl in school had a crush on the fourteen year old boy so it became a big fuss for 'the cutest guy in school' to be taken by 'simple Kari.'

Because of the pressure and scrutiny she endured, any thoughts of going with TK to the dance had to be eliminated; going with him would only feed the rumors of them being a couple.

"Nope." She lied. "I don't really want to go with him."

More whispering occurred amongst her friends. "So…you wouldn't mind if one of _us _asked him to the dance?"

The Digidestined of Light sighed at the stupidity of the situation; she almost felt like she was TK's mother, being asked permission to ask out her best friend.

"Yes…I wouldn't mind."

As soon as she replied, squeals of joy and delight overcame their table as each girl chattered away as to how to get the cute blonde to go out with them to the winter formal. Kari took a bite out of her apple as she stayed quiet. The thought of TK being swarmed by numerous amount of girls entered her head; knowing her best friend, he would rather face the Dark Masters all over again then have to deal with the girl issues. Slightly amused, Kari mischievously smiled as she resumed her lunch with her friends.

* * *

Yolei Inoue couldn't help but yawn for the ninth time as her chemistry teacher continued his lecture on the periodic table. She couldn't stand how boring he was and how he made the class seem so routine. But, in his defense, chemistry was never fun to begin with. And it was the last class of the day before school was over so the purple haired girl only had to endure thirty more minutes before she was free anyways. 

As she played with her pencil, completely ignoring her teacher's lecture, she couldn't help but let her mind wander. High school was very different from elementary school and while she was a tenth grader and had a full year under her belt, she still wasn't fully accustomed to the new style of school. And her first year in high school wasn't exactly the best; she recalled the hardships and struggles she had to go through. And the worst part was that she had endure it alone.

The one thing that bothered Yolei about being part of the Digidestined family was her age. She was a year older than most of the younger generation of Digidestined but also a year or two younger than the older group as well which made her the only fifteen year old in the whole group. Because of this, she always felt different and somewhat separated from everyone but it wasn't until she entered high school when she understood the full extent of it.

The others were clumped into groups, she concluded. The younger kids graduated and entered high school together so they never had to experience what Yolei had to experience. And the older kids were also in the same grade, making it easier for them to be around each other. For Yolei, she really had no one. Sure, she had her friends at school, but the Digidestined girl yearned for the old days when she could hang out with her fellow comrades. When she entered high school, she thought that it was an opportunity for her to get closer with the older group but when that failed, she hoped that she could hang out with the rest of the new Digidestined when they entered high school. But already a month had gone by and she had yet to keep in contact with any of them. High school was so big compared to elementary school that it was almost impossible to spot them. It almost made Yolei wish for trouble to occur in the Digital World just so that she could be re-united with her close friends.

The purple haired girl sighed as she dropped her pencil and pushed up her glasses. She flipped through her notebook, nonchalantly, until she noticed something that caught her eye. She stopped and took a moment to read what she had written long ago; inscribed was one word: Ken. She sighed even more as she closed her notebook.

After days of intense discussions with Poromon, Yolei had come to the conclusion that she had feelings for Ken. In the past, she wasn't shy in letting the other Digidestined know that she had a crush on the popular and famous genius from Tamachi. But all of them, including herself, thought nothing of it, seeing as she was but only one of the many fan girls that Ken had. However, after the former Digimon Emperor became a fellow Digidestined, her emotions started to get the best of her and the little harmless crush soon became a feeling of affection. It was both a pleasure and a curse; a pleasure in the sense that Ken was definitely a fine choice to fall for but a curse because now, whenever she was with the young boy, she felt a tension and awkwardness around him, as if she didn't know how to act in front of him, afraid of his judgment.

Yolei glanced at the clock and sighed once more, realizing that only five minutes had pasted since her day-dreaming. Indeed, life was unfair.

* * *

Davis ran out of the high school, full of energy and joy. School had just ended which meant it was soccer time for the young freshman student. He scanned the soccer field and saw that there were kids already playing. 

"Wohoo! School is over! God, it was a drag." Davis ran toward the grassland. As he ran, he spotted TK, a fellow Digidestined and his friend, being swarmed by girls from all sides. The blonde had a very scared look on his face and was too preoccupied to notice the spiky haired boy.

Davis grunted. While he and TK were good friends, he was still extremely jealous that the blonde always seemed to have the upsides in life.

"Why don't the girls surround _me_? I'm just as good looking as TS is!" He muttered to himself. "Whatever. I'll get my chance…and soccer is the one prove to get that chance!" He stopped at the sidelines of the soccer field.

"I wonder if Ken wants to play too…" He pulled out his D-terminal. Before he typed anything, he paused and decided against it. "Nah…Ken lives on the other side of the river. He's too good at soccer anyways; he'll make me look bad." The goggle head boy scanned the field, both scanning his competition and looking to see if any girls were watching.

"Hey Davis!" A boy greeted him.

"Hey Jude. You running a game?"

"Yeah. You should join. Do you have clothes to change into? Don't want to get your uniform dirty."

"Of course I do! Davis Motomiya is always prepared!" He boasted.

"Funny coming from a guy who never has his math homework for class…"

"Jude, school and soccer are two different things!"

"Yeah yeah." Jude rolled his eyes. "Just get dressed and let's go play!"

The Digidestined flashed his friend a goofy grin. "Alright! Time to rock the field!"

* * *

The soccer ball shot through into the goal and a whistle followed. Ken Ichijouji back pedaled away from the goal and gave one of his teammates a high five as everyone else stopped their play. 

"Great shot, Ken!" his coach yelled. "What a way to end practice."

The young boy turned and gave a bow. "Thank you coach but you should praise Tsumbo for it; his pass was perfect. If it wasn't for the trajectory of his assist, I wouldn't have been able to pull the shot off."

His coach chuckled. "You know, Ken, you changed a lot. You've become so humble and good hearted toward your teammates. Much different from how you were beforehand."

That's because beforehand, he was a evil boy who believed he was superior to everyone else and was under the control of the dark spore, he bitterly thought to himself. Indeed, Ken had changed dramatically since that time. After his Digimon Emperor stage, the raven haired boy took it upon himself to correct the wrongs he had committed in his life, both in the Digital World and real world. And he knew he had come a long way from that time period and done his best to repent for his sins, but he's former shadow still lingered from time to time. Whenever he thought about it, it filled his heart with regret and sadness of the crimes he had committed.

He shook his head. No, he wouldn't allow himself to remorse. He told himself, during the fight with MaloMyotismon, that he wouldn't dwell in the past and that he _had_ paid for his crimes; dwelling about past mistakes only led to darkness in the heart and that eventually was what led him to the road as Digimon Emperor.

"Well, guys. Practice is over. Go home and get some rest. Remember though! Practice same time tomorrow!" His coach yelled as the kids started to disperse. Ken picked up his bag and started to walk home. But before he could leave the field, all his teammates walked over and said bye to him. The kind gesture was another reminder of how different life was now from back when he was evil.

Despite being a genius and a very good soccer player, Ken had almost no friends back in the old days due to his arrogant behavior and cold stature. His teammates hardly associated with him and classmates never approached him. But now that he had changed, people around him started to interact with him and actually befriended him instead of idolizing him. It made the Digidestined feel wanted and comfortable to actually have friends.

Of course, his closest friends were the Digidestined. Ken was positive that, if not for their kindness, the young boy would have drowned in his own misery and loneliness; their amazing ability to forgive him was what saved him from never ending self-torment. Because of them, he was given a second chance and the young boy made sure he would take advantage of the opportunity.

The thought of Wormmon waiting for him back home along with his loving parents brought a sense of happiness within the fourteen year teen and forced him to smile a bit. Whistling, he continued his walk as the sun started to set behind him.

* * *

"Upamon? Upamon, I'm back home. Where did you go?" Cody, the eleven year old boy and the youngest Digidestined, asked loudly as he entered his room. 

"I'm over here Cody!" The small ball-shaped Digimon popped out of one of the young boy's drawers and bounced up and down in excitement. "How was kendo practice?"

"Good." He dropped his kendo gear nearby his door and sat down in his chair.

"You look exhausted."

"Well, school was a little rough today and kendo always makes me somewhat fatigued." The green eyed boy replied. He closed his eyes for a second, as if to regain his strength. "How was everything with you?"

"Boring." Upamon answered.

A smile formed on the Digidestined's face. "Really? Don't have anything to do?"

"Of course not! What can I do here while you're gone? Besides eating all the food in the pantry, that is." The Digimon bounced onto his partner's lap.

"I'm sorry Upamon, but this is how it's going to have to be from now on."

"Want to visit the others?"

Cody shook his head. "I can't. I have homework to do. Maybe this weekend."

"When's the weekend?"

"In three days."

"_Three days_??? That's so far away!" The In-training Digimon pouted.

"Not really. It'll be three days before you know it." He tried to cheer up his Digimon. "Besides, you have me around."

"Yeah but all you do when you come home is eat, do homework, shower, read, and sleep everyday!"

"I know, I know. I haven't really had time to play with you lately. But school's getting harder and kendo practice is getting longer; I really don't have time to do anything else." Cody opened one of his textbooks.

"Cody…"

"I promise I'll make it up to you this weekend. We'll visit the others for sure and have fun. Ok?" The cuddly small Digimon bounced up and down in reply.

"Good." The young boy reverted his attention to the book before him. "Now to do math homework…yippee." He added sarcastically.

* * *

"TAI KAMIYA!" 

Matt turned around to face the source of the outburst. Sora Takenouchi, one of the older Digidestined and close friend of Matt's, was standing before him, scanning the area, as if looking for someone.

"Hey Sora." The cool-headed blonde blinked. "What are you doing here?" He was sitting down on a bench and was looking over the pond in Odaiba Park, enjoying the sunset, until Sora's arrival.

"I'm looking for Tai. Have you seen him? I saw him run this way." The brunette stated disdainfully. For being the Digidestined of Love, the young girl had little love in her eyes as she looked like she was ready to kill.

"Um…No…what did he do this time?" Matt asked, not really wanting to ask but feeling compelled to anyways.

"Nothing." She scoffed as she looked like she had given up searching the area. Suddenly, she gave Matt a glare.

"You're not hiding him, are you? Just because you two are best friends doesn't mean you have to cover for him every time he gets in trouble."

"Hiding? Sora, I have no idea where he is."

"If you're helping him, Matt Ishida," She showed flashes of fire in her eyes. "I will hurt you."

The blonde gulped. "I'll…remember that."

Sora gave him a suspicious look before running off, looking for her prey. Waiting for a couple minutes, Matt sighed deeply as he shook his head.

"You can come out now."

One of the bushes nearby started to shake as Tai Kamiya, the crazy haired leader of the Digidestined, popped his head out.

"Whew. Thanks Matt. I owe you."

"You owe me for the thousandth time." The other Digidestined corrected calmly. "What did you do this time?"

Tai gave a goofy grin. "Nothing. Just…kind of broke her tennis racket, that's all." He jumped out of the bush. "It's a small crack, I swear. She making a big fuss about it."

"Sometimes I wonder why you two are boyfriend and girlfriend. You just get her mad and she just chases you around, beating you to a pulp anyways."

"Hey, it's called love spats."

"Whatever." Matt stared off into the pond.

"Are you ok?" Tai asked as he sat down on the bench next to his best friend.

"Yeah, I'm ok." He gave brown haired boy a smile. "I was joking about you and Sora before; I'm glad you two ended up together."

"Thanks. It means a lot coming from you." The Digidestined of Courage nodded. "You know, for a while, when we were fighting Oikawa and his minions here in the real world, I thought you and Sora had a thing going."

"Hm…" Matt's response dulled.

"But, when I asked Sora about it, she told me it was nothing." Tai eyed his friend. "Was it nothing, Matt?"

The blonde bit his lower lip and fidgeted his fingers. "Yeah, it was nothing."

"Ok, that's good. Just wanted to make sure." The other male responded. It amazed Matt how blind his best friend was and how quickly he believed everything. "So, what were you doing here before I came?"

"Nothing. Just thinking."

"You're not reverting back to your old self, are you? Back to silent loner Matt?"

"Nah." The Child of Friendship replied in his raspy voice. "Just pondering…"

"About?"

The seventeen year old boy hesitated before finally answering. "I don't know. I guess my future. I'm not sure if I want to be a rock star anymore."

"What? Why? I thought you liked it!"

"I do but…" Before the blonde adolescent could finish, he felt someone grab his ear and pull sharply, sending unbelievable amount of pain through his body.

"OWWWWW!" Both Tai and Matt yelled as they got up from the bench in order to lessen the pain. They saw a very angry Sora before them, grabbing both of their ears.

"So, you weren't helping Tai, Matt? I told you I would hurt you if you got in my way." The brunette threatened.

"Sora! I swear, I didn't…" Matt's eyes grew as big as dinner plates as he recalled Sora's threat earlier. Getting desperate, he pointed at Tai. "He made me! He told me he set me up with Davis' sister, Jun, if I didn't!"

"What?!" Tai yelled back in disbelief. "Lies! Great friend you are!"

"It's _your_ fault I'm in this mess!"

"Quiet, you two. Both of you…are in big _trouble_." Sora stated, causing both high school seniors to whimper.

"Tai…I'm scared." Matt whispered, wincing at the pain that shot from his ear.

"Me too, buddy. Me too."

* * *

_Dear Mimi,_

_How's everything in New York? Are you having fun there? Doing well in school? I have so many questions but little time to write this letter, unfortunately._

_As you know, I have graduated from high school and am now in medical school. It's really difficult here, with the competition much higher than it was in high school. Because of that, I haven't had much free time and haven't really kept up with the others. I know you wanted me to say hi to them for you in your last letter, but I haven't gotten around to that. It also doesn't help I go to school in Kyoto. But I'm sure their all fine and doing well._

_I hear America is really peeking in terms of global power wise. I actually considered going to med school there because medicine is such a high position in America but I thought about it and I don't have the courage to go to a foreign country like you do, Mimi._

_I think I speak for everyone when I say we all miss you. It's been two years since we last saw each other and been even longer since you actually stayed in Japan for a long period of time. _

_Maybe when you graduate, you'll move back here? Or are you in love with Americans? Sorry this letter has to be short; I have to study for my molecular biology test. Well, write back._

_From, _

_Joe_

* * *

_Dear Joe,_

_WHAT?! HOW COULD YOU FORGET TO SAY HI TO THEM FOR ME??!!! And shame on you! How could you lose contact with them? Their like our family, Joe! I don't care if you go to school in Kyoto or in Mt. Fuji, you should still call or something!_

_What happened to being reliable? You were suppose to say hi for me! Now, I bet they think I forgot all about them when the truth is, I think about them everyday! You're a bad man Joe Kido. _

_And what about America peeking where? Joe, you know I don't care much for politics. Why do you always confuse me with your language? Biology? Global? Power? _

_Anyways, New York is fantastic! Like I said before, the fashion here is to die for! Americans really have a great sense of style! And the clothes here are amazing sometimes! But even with all this, I miss Japan a lot. Especially the food._

_The people here are very nice and the school I'm attending is lots of fun. Since I'm in eleven grade, I'm suppose to be thinking about what college I should go to but I really could care less. I looked at some of the colleges and I must say, it looks dreadful! I never want to leave home._

_I'm so happy to hear you got into medical school! Although, it's not really my taste of work. Still, it fits you perfectly! But of course, if you ever have to go around wearing those white lab coats, I will have to kill you; those things are a fashion nightmare! _

_Oh and by the way, I might be coming back to Japan! Not forever but for a whole month! Can you believe winter break in America is a whole month? It's unbelievable! My parents agreed to sent me back to Odaiba for the winter break and live with my aunt there. So, I'll be seeing you and everyone else again finally! YOU BETTER BE THERE IN ODAIBA WHEN I LAND, JOE KIDO. _

_I'm so excited! Seeing everyone again will make me so happy! I can't wait! See you then!_

_Love,_

_Mimi_

* * *

"Oh…" Izzy, the young sixteen year old prodigy, stated with surprise as an image popped up on his laptop. Curious, the red head was about to click on it until he heard his mother knock on the door. 

"Come in!"

"Izzy! It's dinner time. Come out and eat." His mother popped her head into his clean room.

"Alright, mom. Don't worry; I'll be there in a nano-sec." Assured, she felt the room, closing the door behind her.

As soon as she left the room, the computer whiz reverted his attention back to his computer screen. He scanned the image in case it was a virus sent to overload his computer but when the scan showed no detection of harm, he decided it was ok to open.

He clicked on it and saw a email pop up. Even more interested, Izzy scrolled down as he read the email. As he got closer to finishing the note, the red head's expression grew more and more serious. By the time he was done, the Child of Knowledge stood still for a moment before slouching back on his chair.

"Oh boy…this could be a problem…" He muttered.

* * *

"Did you contact Izzy, Gennai?" A voice boomed. 

A young adult with light brown hair in a ivory color hood nodded in response. "Yes, Azulongmon. I sent an email to Izzy. Knowing him, he'll tell the others as soon as he can about the information I sent him."

The exalted dragon Digimon nodded his massive head in approval. "Good. It's time for the Digidestined to face their final opponent."

"I agree. But…" Gennai hesitated. "Do you think they are ready?"

"If they listened to what I told them before and keep it in their hearts, I have no doubt that now is the time. Besides, it's not like we have much of a choice." The Guardian of the East proclaimed. "_They_ are finally on the move. It is time for us to be prepared…for anything."

* * *

Did you guys like it? As you can tell, I'm trying as hard as I can to follow the storyline of the anime. Azulongmon showed up in episode 37, season 2. 

Please Read and Review! It would mean SO much to me! And more will be posted!


	2. Chapter 2: Preemptive Warning

Hey guys. Sorry for the late update. Writer's block plus school equals not too good. Haha. Anyways, I'm really happy with all the positive feedbacks and hope you guys enjoy this one as much as the last chapter. Read read and enjoy!

DISCLAIMERS: I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON

**Chapter 2**

The whistle blew, signaling the end of the first half. Players from both schools retreated to their respective bench, tired and thirsty. The crowd was somewhat passive and restless; probably because Odaiba High was losing, sixteen to twenty-eight. Kari, who was standing somewhere in the middle of the bleachers, watched the first half with more enthusiasm than most of the students around her, trying to cheer the basketball team on despite their poor performance. It was Odaiba High's first basketball game of the year and many kids came out to support the team on but quickly died down when the team started to lose early on.

The Digidestined spotted TK sitting on the bench, listening intensely to what the coach was telling him. She couldn't help but smile a little seeing the fire inside her best friend's eyes; TK was an extremely nice guy who hardly ever showed any aggression in normal life but when he played basketball, it almost seemed like he would become a different person. With so much determination and fierceness, Kari would sometimes forget he was actually a gentle sweet-hearted boy.

"Let's go TK!" She yelled loudly.

"TP isn't doing so hot." Davis, who also came to watch the game with Kari, commented. The spiky haired Digidestined was right. TK, considered by many as one of the best basketball players in elementary school, wasn't performing as well as he used to. He had two points and had shot the ball poorly. "Maybe, he's not as good as he used to be."

"What do you mean?" The brunette asked.

"Well, I mean, being good in elementary school is one thing but being good in high school is another. TA was one of the taller kids back two years ago but now, he's one of the smaller guys out there. I'm not sure if he can step up like he did back then."

While Davis did have a point, the Child of Light refused to place any doubt on her companion. "No, I'm positive he can be _even better _than he was before. I believe in him." She stated firmly.

"Ok, we'll see."

A whistle blew again, ending the halftime. Odaiba's team made their way to the court as Kyoto's team waited for them. Kari cupped her hands and yelled, "LET'S GO TK!"

The blonde heard her cheer and looked up, only to meet the brunette's gaze. She gave him a smile and thumbs up, hoping that moral support would bring out the best in him. He slowly grinned back at her and gave her a nod as he walked onto the court.

"LET'S GO TK!" a bunch of other girls imitated Kari, hoping to get the same response. However, much to the brunette's satisfaction, he didn't hear. For some reason, it bugged her to know that so many girls desperately wanted TK's attention; as much as she thought about others' sake and putting others before her, she actually felt enjoyment in knowing that she was the only person TK noticed.

The second half of the game was completely different from the first. As soon it started, TK went on the attack, scoring six straight unanswered points. The crowd reacted by cheering on the aggression. Then, the blonde stole the ball and made a lay-up while getting fouled. After sinking the free-throw, he blocked his opponent's shot, sending the ball out of bounds. Odaiba High started to grow louder and became energized from the surge.

"Wow!" One girl next to Kari said with awe.

TK made a three pointer.

"He's so _amazing_!" Another girl shrieked as the Child of Hope hit a fade away jump shot.

The brunette continued to watch, also dazzled and in awe, as TK continued his one man onslaught.

"He's too fast!"

"He's the man!" A male student pumped his fist.

"Odaiba's going to win!" The crowd was muttering, excitedly. The basketball playing Digidestined dribbled and fake left on his opponent; a fake that sent the defender tripping and falling on the floor. The bleachers exploded with exhilaration and grew even more deafening when TK immediately shot the ball, making it.

"I don't believe what I'm seeing." Davis exclaimed. "He's unstoppable. He's like Ken in basketball form!"

Kari giggled. "I told you he would do better." But despite her faith in her best friend, she never expected him to surge with so much energy; it truly left her astonished.

And the star player never let up. He continued his high level of play, scoring from all angles. What was once seemed as a lost game quickly became a blow-out for Odaiba High. By the time it was over, the score was forty seven to thirty five. When the announcer of the basketball stated that TK finished with thirty one points, people chanted his name as if he was a hero of some sort.

"He scored _twenty nine _points in the second half! I don't think anyone has ever done that." Kari heard someone behind her state.

She watched on as her best friend, upon hearing his own name being repeated over and over, laughed nervously and waved at his supporters. He bowed a couple times before he exited the gym.

"I'm going to get his autograph!"

"I'm going to get that hat he always wears! Going to frame it and hold on to it forever!"

The girls certainly were going crazy over TK, the brunette thought to herself. Of course, she couldn't really blame them. The performance he had displayed was more than praiseworthy; it was phenomenal.

"Hey, Kari. We should get going. If we want to catch up with TK, that is." Davis pointed out.

She nodded. "Right." The two of them made their way down the bleachers and headed out of the gym. Of course, it took a while since there were so many people that eagerly wanted to do walk out and meet up with the star of the game.

"I almost feel bad for him. He has to deal with all these people!" The goggled head boy joked.

"I know. You want to just ditch him and let him handle all these people by himself?" Kari jested back.

"No way. I want people to know I'm _best _friends with TK! That way I'll be known as 'The Basketball Star's Right Hand Man.' It'll get the ladies for sure!"

The Digidestined girl giggled. Sometimes, Davis could be silly and say weird things but, for the chestnut haired girl, it was something that she appreciated; He always found a way to make her laugh, intentionally or accidentally.

By the time they reached their friend, students, particularly girls, had deluged and overwhelmed him. It would have been impossible to find TK if not for the fact he was the only one not in school uniform. With girls yelling shrieking with adoration, Kari felt somewhat uncomfortable in her situation.

TK spotted her and gave her a knowing look while pointing in a direction. The brunette, surprisingly, was able to understand what her friend meant and turned to Davis.

"We should go." She commented.

"What? Why? Don't you want to hang out with TJ?"

"He'll meet us at the front of the school gates later. Come on." With that, she grabbed hold of the boy's arm and dragged him away, straying away from the chaotic scene.

* * *

"Hey TK." Kari, after waiting for about a hour after the game, greeted her blonde friend as he approached her. She and Davis were sitting down on the curb, talking, until they saw the Digidestined of Hope coming. He had a guilty look on his face. 

"Sorry guys; you didn't have to wait." He stated as he shifted the weight of his basketball bag. He was out of his school uniform and was wearing a simple, olive green, long sleeves with jeans along with his trademark hat.

"It's ok. We understand how busy you must have been dealing with so many fans." The brunette teased slyly. The one thing that separated TK from the rest of the guys, in Kari's eyes, was his modesty and inability to take praise. He was one of the humblest boys she had ever met, never insisting on taking credit for anything. If he was recognized for his work, he had a difficult time accepting it which made it easy for her to make fun of him. She would often, in a joking tone, put TK on the spot, applauding him and boasting for him, only because she knew it would make the blonde blush and react in a flustered way . He was the only person she could joke around with in such fashion; any other guy would have let such joking get to his head.

As she expected, TK's face turned slightly red at her teasing. "Their not fans. Just…people." She couldn't help but chuckle at his weak excuse.

"You should've introduced me to them! I'm sure they would have wanted to meet me!" Davis exclaimed.

"Eh…" Before he could respond, three simultaneous beeps went off. Knowing exactly what the noise was, all three of the Digidestined went for their D-3 terminals. They opened them and read the message that was sent to each of them.

"Izzy wants to meet up at his house?" TK looked up from his terminal. "Do you think something's wrong? Last time he asked us all to meet up was to talk about Diaboromon's return."

Kari gave her friend a concerned look. "I hope not."

"Come one guys! We won't know by standing around here!" Davis motioned them to hurry. "If there's trouble, it's our job to clean it up!"

" He didn't leave a time to meet up." The Digidestined of Light commented.

"Yeah. But we should still go as soon as possible." Her best friend replied back.

"You'll be ok?" She turned to the blonde. "Do you need to go home or something to wash up?"

He shook his head. "I'll be fine. If it's an emergency, we should head out now."

"Hellooo! That's what I've been saying!" An annoyed Davis pointed out. TK turned to him a gave him a guilty smile.

"Sorry, Davis."

"No, wait." Kari interrupted. "We need to go back home anyways. We need to get our Digimon." She knew Gatomon would want to know if something was wrong.

"Right. Almost forgot. Alright, we go home, pick up our Digimon, and then meet at Izzy's house. Sound good?" Davis asked the group. His comrades nodded in agreement. "I'll meet you guys there! Don't be late!" With that, the spiky haired boy ran off to his apartment.

"Always in a hurry; he needs a slow down button." TK commented, jokingly, as he watched his friend rush off.

The brunette girl softly laughed at her friend's joke. He turned to her and gave her a warm smile. "Shall we go? I'll walk you to your place since it's on the way." He offered.

"Sounds good."

"Besides, Tai would kill me if he knew I let you walk around alone."

"Hey." She playfully punched him on the arm. He drew his arm back and rubbed the area she punched, acting as if the hit actually hurt him. She laughed. "Stop being a baby."

"It really hurt!" He protested.

She raised an eyebrow. "Really? You can take being tackled to the floor by a big burly basketball player but can't handle a small punch from a little girl?"

"Looks can be deceiving, Kari." He teased.

"Uh huh. Stop trying to act like a little child."

TK sighed as he smiled. "I guess I can't do that anymore huh? I feel so old now."

She shook her head. "No, it's not that. I guess it's because I've known you for so long that it doesn't work on me." The brunette brushed some of her hair out of her eyes; it started to get windy as the two walked to their apartments, sending her hair flowing. She noticed that the sun was setting off in the horizon as they walked. Suddenly, TK grabbed her arm, halting her, and brushed her shoulder length, chestnut colored hair aside, out of her face. She in response gave him a curious look but found that he wasn't really looking at her. She could tell he was in pensive thought from the way his eyes seemed to shine with reminiscence and how he seemed focused on her forehead. She waited for a while before slowly grabbing onto his arm. As if on cue, TK broke out of his trance and immediately stopped stroking her hair.

"Sorry. I got caught up with my thoughts." He apologized.

"It's ok. But what were you thinking about?" They continued to walk.

The blonde shrugged his shoulders as he gave a small grin. "The past I guess. And plus, you looked different. Did you do something to your hair?"

She frowned. "No, TK. I've had this hairstyle for almost three years now."

"Oh. Are you sure?"

She thought about it. She admitted it had grown a bit longer since their final fight with MaloMyotismon and Diaboromon but it wasn't a big change; not something a guy could be able to tell. "I'm pretty sure."

"Oh. Well, you looked different today, for some reason."

The brunette gave a quick glance at her clothes apparel and then gave her best friend questioning look. "I'm wearing the school uniform though."

He laughed in response. "Yeah, I know. It's weird. You seem different."

She rolled her eyes and gave a small laugh. "_You're _weird, TK."

"Probably."

The Digidestined of Light smiled at her comrade. "You did really well today at your game by the way."

"Eh." The blonde shrugged again. "It was nothing. We shouldn't have been down so much from the start."

"Come on." She teased. "Don't tell me the whole chanting your name, the girls falling right and left for you, and the glory of being known as the best basketball player at Odaiba High didn't make you feel good." The Child of Hope immediately blushed at the compliments.

"Stop, Kari. You know I don't like that."

She laughed. She would never get over his over-modest personality.

"Fine, fine." She stopped walking which prompted the blonde to stop as well. He gave her a confused look as Kari slowly got close to TK. She paused in front of his face and smiled. Then, in almost lightning fast reflexes, she grabbed the blonde's hat and ran off. TK took a moment to understand the situation before his eye's grew big.

"Kari! My hat!"

"You'll have to take it from me!" The brunette yelled back, full of laughter. "I'm going to take it with me and knit flowers, butterflies, pink hearts…"

"KARI!!!"

* * *

TK observed as Izzy, who was in the middle of the somewhat crowded bedroom, counted off the other Digidestined and their Digimon in the room. When the red haired computer genius finished, he gave a sigh and a smile. 

"Well, I think that's everyone who could make it on such short notice. Joe is in Kyoto, Mimi's in America still, and Ken has to be home today. I'm actually surprised the rest of you all showed up." He stated.

"You said it was an emergency." Matt replied. He was standing up, leaning against the wall, with Gabumon at his side

The Child of Knowledge nodded. "It is. Gennai sent me an email yesterday saying he wanted to meet up with us in the Digital World. He said it was urgent and that it was vital we come as soon as possible."

"You waited until now to tell us this when you got the email yesterday?" Tai asked.

"By the time I got the mail, it was really late so I thought it would be more convenient if we met up at a more reasonable time."

"Sounds fair enough." Davis replied. "Now, can we go to the Digital World? Gennai needs to speak to us!"

"I wonder what it could be this time. I seriously thought everything was going to be over after we defeated Diaboromon." A concerned Sora commented.

Tai turned his head to his girlfriend. "What are you saying, Sora?" He asked with a assertion in his tone. "You make it sound like it's a chore or something."

"No! It's just…I don't know. I just wonder when it will all finally end. The whole 'fighting the bad guys and saving the world' routine. I want to live a normal life." TK noticed that some of the Digidestined in the room were mumbling in agreement.

"Me too but that doesn't mean I'm going to take away the value of being a Digidestined." The leader of the group turned to rest of the teens in the room. "It's a responsibility that we all just need to learn to accept, no matter how tedious and tiresome it gets."

"But when does it all stop? When can we just go about life like everyone else, worrying about dances and school instead of the fate of the Digital World?" Yolei exasperated. It was clear frustration was teeming out of her.

"And some of us are getting busier." Cody quietly added. "It's already hard enough to maintain our normal lives as it is but to incorporate _this _on top of that…I don't know if I can do it anymore."

"So what? Are you going to give up then? Give up on the Digital World? Give up on your Digimon?" Tai fought back.

"No one here is going to give up on their Digimon." Kari spoke while holding onto Gatomon. "But I think what they're saying is that it would be nice if we could have peace. A lot of us thought that the fight with MaloMyotismon was the last test."

"Even_we're_ tired." Gatomon piped in. "Digivoling and fighting bad guys are fun and all but relaxing isn't too bad either."

"It's been almost a _year_ since our last fight though!" The Digidestined of Courage stressed.

"Yeah but maybe a year isn't long enough. Maybe we need more time to lay off for a while. What if this keeps up our whole life? I mean, like Cody mentioned, some of us are already having a hard time getting by in life without having the thought of protecting worlds over our heads. We're growing up, Tai, and as we grow up, we're going to get busier and more stressed out." Sora explained. "I just want to live a normal life. And I think I speak for everyone when I say that."

A silence echoed throughout the room. No one dared to speak, in fear that the next statement could further add onto the tension growing between each other. Izzy cleared his throat, getting everyone's attention.

"Well, it looks like we are at a…trendy juncture right now. But regardless, Gennai is still waiting for us at the Digital World, whether we want to go or not." He reminded all of them.

Matt walked toward Izzy. "I say we go, talk to Gennai, and then discuss this later."

"I agree. The longer we stay here arguing, the more distracted we'll be." Tentomon added.

TK nodded in agreement. Throughout the whole debate, the blonde sat back quietly and watched as his close friends' fatigue and frustration unravel. The message from Gennai was, in TK's opinion, both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in the sense that it brought the Digidestined together again; he couldn't remember the last time they had met up with each other in such fashion. It felt good to see his friends again, to be able to converse and have fun with them. But, at the same time, it was curse because the message was a sign that danger was not gone. Also, it caused a schism within the group; it was disturbing for the Child of Hope to see his band of friends so divided. And while the small bickering was really nothing to fret over, it still felt like a sign for future trouble that was looming for them.

"Let's go then!" Davis whipped out his D-3 and pointed at Izzy's laptop. The all too familiar Digital Gate popped up on the screen, signaling it's readiness. The spiky haired boy turned to his companions. "Well?"

Another silence followed. TK felt like everyone was waiting for everyone else to make the first move. Davis stood before them, somewhat confused at the reaction, with a puzzled look on his face. Sora sighed and stepped forward.

"Let's go." She answered.

* * *

Kari remembered the first time she saw Azulongmon; BlackWargreymon forcefully summoned the ancient dragon Digimon in front of the Digidestined, just to fight him. From the moment she saw the mighty Digimon, she knew she was in the presence of an ancient power, able to detect a mystic aura from the Guardian of the East. Covering the skies with his elongated body, with chains wrapped all around him and a beard that portrayed great wisdom, the Exalted Digimon was a very impressive sight. 

So impressive that, despite being her second time seeing the massive creature, Kari found herself in awe of his presence as she and the other Digidestined stood before him.

"Welcome Digidestined; it has been a while." Azulongmon's voice boomed throughout the area.

"Sorry for the late response; I couldn't contact the others yesterday due to the time I received your message." Izzy spoke out loud.

"So this is Azulongmon…" Kari heard Matt mumble. She almost forgot the older Digidestined never really met the Guardian Digimon. They only heard about him from the younger members.

"That's ok, Izzy. We weren't expecting you to answer until today anyways." Gennai replied. He took on the form of his youthful age, which he recently started to take, instead of the old man that Kari grew up knowing.

"Ok. So, what's up? What's the big emergency?" Davis asked.

"I know it has been almost two years since I have last contacted some of you and that many of you hoped that your duties as protectors of the Digital World would be at rest, but unfortunately, you are needed once again." Azulongmon proclaimed.

"It's what I thought…" Sora whispered. Biyomon grew closer to her partner, hoping to comfort her.

"You have faced, endured, and conquered many obstacles for the sake of both worlds, and through your perseverance, you have all grown stronger and wiser. You have passed every test and, even through the darkest of times, you managed to not only survive but also took your past experiences and used them to grow in maturation. For that, I commend you, Digidestined; watching you as a group flourish and blossom into what you are now has been phenomenal."

"But there is still one last impeding threat that looms over as your final test." The Dragon Digimon continued. "Your growth, your strength, your wisdom, will all be put to the brink; You will be facing an opponent unlike any you have faced before."

"Who is it?" Tai asked.

"It's not a matter of _who _but rather _what_." Gennai added.

Kari looked up at Azulongmon and was startled to see that the Digimon was staring right back at her. Meeting his gaze, the brunette suddenly knew exactly what he was talking about. Her stomach turned at the mere thought of it.

"I believe Kari knows what I speak of." The Digimon said.

Suddenly, all eyes were on her. The brunette hoped, prayed, that she was wrong but her gut feeling told her otherwise; Azulongmon's gaze only confirmed her suspicion. She sighed and looked down at Gatomon, whom she was carrying in her arms.

"The Dark Ocean." She stated quietly. The Dark Ocean was a world that Kari would never forget. She was there only twice but she never wanted to go again. A world filled with sadness and lack of any light, it was a symbol of great evil for the brunette. Somehow, despite all the years that had passed, she knew, in the back of her mind, that the dark world would re-appear in her life and that she would be, yet again, forced to face it.

A silence followed. She could feel TK put a hand on her shoulder.

Azulongmon nodded. "Exactly. The parallel world known as the 'Dark Ocean' is a world filled with darkness and will be your biggest challenge yet."

Gennai stepped forward. "We have kept an eye on the Dark Ocean for some time now and monitored any suspicious movement within the world. It seemed very calm and no signs showed of any above normal interaction within the realm. Until now, that is."

"The Dark Ocean's influence has been looming over you Digidestined since almost the beginning of your journeys. Some of you were actually able to detect it from time to time. Matt and Sora were both the first to feel the effects of it's chilling presence, back when you Digidestined prepared your fight with Piedmon. A cave of darkness and a sinking feeling was what you felt, right, Sora and Matt?"

Kari saw Matt's expression change as he looked like he just realized something. Sora, in the meanwhile, gasped.

"That's right." The Child of Love stated in disbelief. "It was back when Tai sent me out to find Matt so we could fight Piedmon. I…it felt like a sudden burden was on my shoulders and it gave me a very dark and cold feeling. Almost as if I was going through depression or something. I felt like I was sinking in heavy water, drowning in my misery and fear."

Matt nodded. "Yeah. I felt it too. Mine was when I was in that cave with Gabumon. After I broke away from the group, I just felt so miserable and felt that everyone hated me. I almost gave up and let the darkness consume me. That is, until Gabumon bit me."

Azulongmon nodded in confirmation. "Yes. Both times the Dark Ocean was attempting to influence you with it's tainted power. It felt your weakness at the time and tried to take advantage of it. Fortunately, it failed."

"But, not all of it's endeavor's were failures. Ken is a clear example of it's power to create darkness." Gennai shook his head with visible sadness. "Azulongmon and I watched as Ken's tragic life unfolded. The Dark Ocean succeeded in overwhelming a Digidestined with it's power and, for the longest time, we thought Ken's life was irreversible. It was very providential that you Digidestined were able to save him from the grasp of it's claws."

While Ken wasn't with the group currently, Kari felt a great deal of sympathy and pity for her friend; it never occurred to her exactly how much he underwent, being attacked by the Dark Ocean.

"Our biggest fear came when Kari became the latest target. It was critical that the Dark Ocean did _not_ corrupt her, of all people; We were very fortunate it did not happen."

"You stress Kari's situation. Why is Kari's attack more important than the others?" Izzy asked.

" She is the Child of Light. As I have explained before, All of you retain a trait, an attribute, that has become your source of power. Courage, Friendship, Love, Sincerity, Knowledge, and Reliability are all strengths that come from _within _you Digidestined and you channel those powers from yourselves. And while each trait is impressive and have their own individual strengths, Hope and Light are created in a different aspect." The impressive Digimon spoke. "Hope and Light are powers that take the strengths from others and channels them to create a force that is unique. Hope comes from the inner life within every person, every Digimon, every living entity, while Light thrives off the darkness that is created around it, shining brightly within every person. Their essence, and the meanings behind their powers, makes them two characteristics that, when used properly, are the most powerful of the eight traits. That is why the Childs of Hope and Light have been susceptible targets by many of your opponents."

"That's right! Devimon tried to get rid of TK…" Agumon started.

"…And Myotismon tried to destory Kari." Tai added.

"Piedmon was destroyed by TK." Tentomon stated.

"And that would explain why Angemon and Angewomon have powers stronger than an average Champion and Ultimate, respectively." Izzy observed. "I was always curious as to why that was so. MagnaAngemon was able to fight toe to toe with Piedmon and BlackWargreymon, despite the fact that they were one level higher than him. And Angewomon was able to defeat Myotismon when all the other Ultimate leveled Digimon couldn't."

Azulongmon nodded. "Correct, Izzy. Patamon and Gatomon, because of TK and Kari, are more powerful than their Digimon counterparts when they Digivolve. But their powers are not just limited to physical assistance; in fact, in many situations, Hope and Light are the only tools that surround you. It is impossible to explain the full extent of these two attributes' influence but know this: much of their work goes unseen."

"That is why the safety of both TK and Kari is essential for both the Digital World and the real world. They are the representations, the chosen children, for Hope and Light." Gennai explained.

"So the Dark Ocean was after Kari and failed which is a very good thing." Yolei commented.

"Yes. After that, the Dark Ocean's activities died down and stayed relatively tranquil for a period of time. But Azulongmon and I knew it was only a matter of time before it would attack again. Recently, we have detected a great deal of movement and energy teeming from the realm of darkness and have reasons to believe that it is ready to make another strike."

The floating Dragon Digimon closed his eyes. "We felt that it was time to tell you Digidestined of the Dark Ocean; before, we were afraid that maybe you children were not ready to take on such magnitude of evil but, after careful consideration, we also feel that you have proven yourselves over and over again, defeating every opponent up until now. We must have more faith in you." He opened his eyes. " I have always believed that the Dark Ocean has been bidding it's time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to unleash it's full strength. All of it's attacks up until now have been minimal, only a small portion of it's true power. However, our latest update shows us that the Dark Ocean is getting ready; the time has come."

"What time?" Davis asked.

"The time when the Dark Ocean unleashes it's true plot. The time when you Digidestined will have to face evils that you've never faced before. Your final test."

"Wait. You guys make it sound like the Dark Ocean is more of a _thing_ than a _place_." Yolei interrupted. "I mean, what is it? Is it alive? Or is there someone that lives there that is doing all these things?"

Gennai shook his head. "Despite our research and our knowledge of it, we actually know very little of the Dark Ocean and it's powers. Shrouded in shadows, we don't even know the simple basis of what goes on in that world. All we comprehend is that it is a source of great evil."

"So, the Dark Ocean is going to attack?" Gatomon spoke up.

"We have reasons to believe that the next target will not be a lackluster attempt; it will incorporate the full impact of darkness' extent. Because of this, Digidestined, you _must _protect the victim at all costs. Otherwise, it could lead to _death." _Gennai warned.

"This is what the Dark Ocean has been waiting for. It has been plotting and waiting patiently in the background all these years, preparing for it's master plan. With the right pieces set and the moment right, the time has come for it to set forth that plan. Whatever it is, Digidestined, you must be prepared for anything. Or else, the consequences could be disastrous."

The Digidestined remained silent. Kari felt goosebumps forming all over her body.

"Who's the target?" Cody asked.

"The one true threat and the only one who could really afflict the Dark Ocean's plot. Darkness' ultimate opposition and our greatest weapon. " Gennai and Azulongmon both stared at the young brunette who was holding onto Gatomon. She gave a surprised look back before looking around, hoping that they were staring at someone else. But deep down, she knew it was her. She had a feeling that her involvement with the shadowy world had only begun all those years ago.

The rest of the Digidestined turned their heads and also stared at Kari. Tai was the first to speak up.

"Kari's the target?"

"We don't know what the Dark Ocean's plot is, but we are almost positive that she is the centerpiece of this whole dilemma." Azulongmon voice boomed. "The prize and goal that the Dark Ocean seeks. Digidestined, you _must not let the Child of Light succumb to it's wrath. _Losing her would be the fatal imbalance between light and darkness, sending everything into chaos."

"I will lend your Digimons some of my powers, so that they will be able to Digivolve into their final forms. It is imperative that Kari's safety is secured, Digidestined. If she is corrupted, like Ken was, there is not telling what could happen." The Exalted Dragon stared at all of them. "The fate of all worlds rests in your success."

* * *

"_So it begins…" A raspy voice declared._

"_Those fools have no idea what's in store for them." a rather high pitched voice crackled._

"_It doesn't matter if they did know of our plans." A very deep and burly tone added. "They are too weak to stop us."_

"Now, now. Let us give them more credit than that. They are, after all, the legendary Digidestined." _A gentleman like expression stated._"Legendary, indeed. Let's see if you live up your honorary name, Digidestined."

* * *

Like it? This chapter was hard to write for some reason. I really struggled finishing it up. But it's done and hopefully you liked it. Oh and, particularly for this chapter, as you can tell, you have to know a bit about season one and two to understand it all. I don't have the episodes reference with me but try to watch it or read about it on the net. Read and Review! 


	3. Chapter 3: Hope's Unwavering Banner

Hey guys, here's the latest update. I've been following a trend….one update per month…haha. I'm trying my best to speed things up but…with school and everything else, it's really hard. But I will preserve and finish this story. Just be patient and I will deliver! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Chapter 3**

Matt Ishida was seated on his sofa, scrolling through the TV, looking for anything remotely interesting to watch, when the computer whiz known as Izzy plopped down next to him. Feeling the exhaustion from his fellow Digidestined, Matt turned off the TV and faced his friend.

"How was it?" He asked.

Izzy sighed. "Well, I emailed Joe and Mimi about the situation and both of them are equally concerned. Unfortunately, I don't think they'll be able to help us anytime soon."

"Why? When are they coming back?"

"Mimi's not coming back to Odaiba for another two weeks and Joe said he has midterms coming up so he'll be unavailable for at least a week."

"What about Ken?"

"Davis said he'll tell Ken all the information since he has to meet up with him anyways. But other than that, everyone seems to know what's going on. And the importance of it." Izzy turned to Matt. "Speaking of the others, how's everyone else?"

"Well, it seems fine. Tai is freaking out, acting like the paranoid older brother he is. So, he's been edgy for the past couple days. But I guess you can't really blame him."

The red head nodded. "It's understandable."

"Yeah. He's just concerned about Kari, I know. Everyone else seems normal but I can tell most of them are scared. I guess the whole 'waiting to be attacked' deal is nerve racking."

"How's the plan coming along?"

"Good. I don't think Kari likes the fact that someone is constantly watching her every move but," The blonde shrugged. "hey, what can you do?"

Izzy folded his arms. "Yeah. It's important that at least one of us is with her at all times. And that she refrains from going out too much."

"I agree. But I still feel bad for her. Her freedom just suddenly got reduced after one day."

"I suppose. But it's for her own good. Until we know what we're up against exactly, we have to take extremely precautious measures to guarantee her safety."

"Yeah." Matt slouched back. "Do you think this plan is good? Waiting for the attack, I mean. I feel like we should be doing something to_prevent_ it instead of just _waiting_ for it."

"What could we do? We don't know anything about our enemy, what their capable of, or when they'll attack. There's too much mystery about the Dark Ocean. The only thing we're certain of is that Kari's life is in danger. With that, the only thing we can do is play safe, protect her, and hope that we'll do a good job at it."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Besides, waiting will work to our advantage in the long run. I'm hoping, once the Dark Ocean attacks, we'll know more about it's plan and what it's up to. The sooner we get a better perception on that, the sooner we can start a counter attack."

"Thinking ahead as usual, Izzy."

"Of course." Izzy opened up his laptop. "If the Dark Ocean is as powerful as Azulongmon says it is, we can't afford to make a mistake. That reminds me, where is Kari right now?"

"She's at home, in her room. I think Tai and Agumon are watching over her." Matt stated. "What are you up to now?"

"I'm just researching about Kari's individual powers. Gennai sent me a email explaining more on it."

Matt gave a curious look to his friend. "Oh? What did he say?"

"It's fascinating, really; I never realized how special and unique Kari and TK were. Their well-being plays such a vital role in the stability of the Digital World. Gennai says that, 'they are the keys and guardians to ensuring the balance of good and evil, right and wrong.' He goes on to say if anything was to happen to any one of them, the result would be disastrous."

"Really? They're that important? I mean, I understand they're different from the rest of us but are that's pretty extreme."

Izzy leaned back on his chair and rubbed his chin. "I think there's more to it than what we know. I don't think we fully comprehend TK and Kari's importance just yet." he shook his head. "There has to be something we don't know or that were missing about them and I have a feeling that it's somehow connected with all this."

"Hm." Matt replied. "Well, like you said, we'll just have to wait and be patient."

"Agreed."

The blonde couldn't help but chuckle. "What a way to spend our Saturday."

The red head smiled. "Are you kidding? This is what I normally do on weekends."

Before Matt could respond, TK, with Patamon on his head, walked in through the front door, removing his shoes. Matt waved at his younger brother, greeting him as the younger blonde made his way toward him.

"Hey guys. What are you guys up to?"

"Nothing. Just researching on Kari's powers." Izzy answered.

TK sat down next to his brother. "Oh? Did you guys find anything interesting?"

The prodigy shook his head. "Not really. Gennai just sent me an email further elaborating on what Azulongmon told us."

"I see."

Matt rubbed his forehead. "Man, I'm getting so stressed out about this whole situation."

"I know what you mean." The Child of Knowledge sighed.

TK looked at the two on them and gave a smile. "It's ok, guys. We just got to do what we've been doing for all these years."

Izzy gave him an amusing look. "What's that?"

The blonde's smile grew bigger. "Being Digidestined."

Matt chuckled at his younger brother's cheesy comment.

"Where's Kari right now?" Patamon asked.

"She's at home. Tai and Agumon are watching after her." Matt replied.

"TK," The Digimon reverted his attention. "Isn't your shift coming up?"

The Child of Hope nodded. "Yeah. I have to watch over her in three hours." He got up, put Patamon down on the sofa, and made his way to the refrigerator. "Hey Matt, did dad tell you where I'm sleeping yet?"

Matt and TK's mother had to go on a business trip so the younger sibling was spending the week at his dad's apartment home. The cool headed Digidestined nodded. "Yeah, he said you're probably going to sleep on this sofa."

"I see." TK took out a water bottle from the fridge and took a sip. He gave a curious look at his older brother. "Hey, where's Gabumon and Tentomon?"

"I asked them if they could go to my place and pick up an USB port for me." Izzy replied.

"Nice. Oh, Izzy, by the way, do you know how I can print my pictures out from my digital camera?"

"You need to load them onto a computer and use a special type of paper to print them out."

"Oh. Do you know where I can get that special paper?"

Izzy nodded. "I think Yolei has some. You should stop by her place and check."

"Thanks Izzy." TK pulled out his camera from his pocket and tinkered with it. "Well, I'm going to head out. Matt, tell dad I'm not going to be home for dinner."

The older sibling nodded in confirmation.

"TK, I think I'm going to stay here, if you don't mind." Patamon exclaimed.

"OK, that's fine." The blonde put his shoes on as he made his way to the front door. "Hey Matt, Izzy." He caught the attention of both of the older males. "You guys shouldn't worry too much about what's going on. We've been in situations like these countless times and we've always managed to fight through and find a way. We should have more faith in ourselves, you know?" The Digidestined of Hope grinned. "I think we deserve that much."

Matt shook his head with a smile while Izzy grinned in amusement.

"Alright, lil' bro. We won't. Thanks for the encouragement."

TK nodded as he walked out the front door, leaving Matt, Izzy, and Patamon.

"He sure is optimistic about this whole ordeal." The red head commented.

"Well, he _is_ the Digidestined of Hope." Matt scratched his head. "Sometimes too hopeful."

"It's a good trait though; and plus, he's right. We have been in these spots before and we have managed to win somehow. I guess we should believe in ourselves more."

"TK's just trying to lift your guys' spirits." Patamon added.

Matt nodded. "Yeah…I just hope it's well placed."

* * *

"Poromon! I don't know what to _do_!" Yolei complained as she laid down on the floor of her living room.

Her Digimon sighed with impatience. "Yolei, I've already _told_ you what I think you should do. You should just ask him."

"But it doesn't work like that! You don't understand humans, Poromon. A girl cannot ask a guy to a school dance. _Especially_ if the guy is younger."

"But you shouldn't care what other people think; you should just do what you want to do."

"Yeah right!" The purple haired girl scoffed. "Easier said than done! Maybe, I should _trick _him into asking me…"

The small, pink, ball-shaped, bird Digimon sighed again at her counterpart.

"What should I do?! The dance is soon!"

"Yolei, just ask him! I'm sure no one would mind…"

"It's not just about how everyone would think! It's about what he would think!"

"Eh?"

"Can you imagine how pathetic and sad it would look for an older girl to ask a younger guy to her school's dance? It looks so bad!"

"I'm sure he wouldn't judge you on that…"

"Yeah he would! _I_ would!" Before Yolei could go off into another tantrum, she heard a knock at her front door.

"Come in! The door's open!" She yelled. She watched as the door opened slightly as TK's head popped up from the opening.

"Hey Yolei." The head looked around her apartment. "Are you busy?"

"Not at all. Come on in."

"Thanks." He walked in, took his shoes off, and slowly made his way to the other Digidestined. "What were you doing?"

"Oh, nothing. Just talking with Poromon here." Yolei gave a fake smile and patted her Digimon on the head. Poromon rolled his eyes.

"That's good. Yolei, do you mind if I print out some pictures from your computer?"

"No, go ahead. My computer is in my room." She pointed at her room.

TK gave a smile. "Thanks a lot. It'll be really fast." With that, the blonde made his way to the bedroom. As soon as he left the young girl and her Digimon alone, Yolei moaned as she buried herself with the pillows on her couch.

"I don't know what to do, Poromon." She exasperated.

"Maybe you should ask TK for help."

The girl frowned. "TK? No way."

"Why not? He would understand. You know he wouldn't judge you if you asked."

Yolei couldn't disagree. TK was, by far, one of the most understanding and nicest boys she had met. He was extremely mature for his age, showing more maturity then even some of the boys in her grade. She knew if she asked him for help, he wouldn't make fun of her; in fact, he would probably be willing to help out. But despite the good qualities that he displayed, she was very hesitant to ask the blonde for help.

"Well…" Before she could go on, TK came out of her room. He was looking through the pictures he had printed out.

"Thanks again, Yolei for letting me print out the pictures."

"No problem."

"Well, I need to go now; my shift to watch over Kari is coming up."

The older girl noticed the look that Poromon was giving her. She bit her lips and frowned.

"Wait TK!"

The blonde boy turned around and gave her a curious look. "What's up, Yolei?"

"Um…I need your help with something."

"Oh, ok. What's up?"

"But you have to promise you won't tell anyone." She gave him a knowing look.

TK smiled in response. "Promise."

She sighed in defeat. "Ok, well, the thing is, you know the winter dance is coming up soon."

"Yeah, in about a month, right?"

"Yep. Anyways, I…want to go to the dance but not with just anyone…I want to go with a particular somebody."

"Uh huh."

"But the thing is…" She paused. "he's younger than me."

The blonde gave a surprised look. "Really?"

"Yeah…TK! What do I do?!" Yolei groaned.

The boy shrugged. "Why don't you just ask him?"

"What would other people think if they found out I asked a younger guy to the dance?"

"Well…you shouldn't care what they think; as long as you're happy right? I mean, if going with this guy will make you happy, then you should do it."

"Hmm…" The Digidestined girl wasn't too convinced.

"If you don't mind me asking, who is it?"

Yolei blushed. "Oh well, its…umm…" She sighed. "It's Ken. DON"T TELL HIM I TOLD YOU!" The embarrassed girl finished with a yell.

TK chuckled. "I kind of figured." The purple-haired girl gave him a glare, forcing him to stop his amusement. "Well, honestly Yolei, that's even better."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Ken is really popular and famous around here. _Any_ girl of _any_ age would want to date him; I'm pretty sure of that. You know what I'm saying? You going to the dance with Ken will, if anything, have people in awe of you, regardless of your age."

Yolei paused to think about it. After taking a minute, she finally understood what the Child of Hope was saying. Hitting her like a train, she reluctantly started to accept the information.

"You…think so?"

TK nodded. "Of course."

"TK's right, Yolei." Poromon added.

A big smile slowly developed on the girl's face. "Ok! I'll do it! I'll ask him to the dance!" She then turned to hug the blonde boy in front of her. "Thanks TK! You helped a lot."

The Digidestined of Hope chuckled. "Anytime Yolei. But I should get going; I have to watch Kari soon."

"Oh right. Have fun with that!"

After her younger friend left, Yolei got up from her position and, with steadfast determination and a focused mindset, she made her way to her room as got ready for her task ahead.

* * *

Kari hated being the center of attention. Through her experience, whenever she was in that position, bad things happened. Whether it be when she was extremely sick as a little child or when she was recognized as the eighth Digidestined or even when she was the center of gossip at her school involving the friendship with TK, nothing good came out of it and usually led to someone getting hurt. She always tried her best to stray away from the spotlight, preferring to work behind the scenes, where her impacts or mistakes could cause minimal effect.

Unfortunately, for the past three days, it had been the opposite of what she wanted. Ever since the Digidestined found out that Kari was the target for the Dark Ocean's latest attack, the young brunette had been under constant watch with her every move being monitored by her friends. The Digidestined decided, much to Kari's disapproval, that the only way to protect her was if at least one of them was with her at all times, making sure she was safe. On top of that, two other members had to be nearby so that, if danger was to occur, at least two of them could rush over to help. The rest of the group would be on high alert and their D-Terminals accessible for consistent updates on her safety, waiting for the moment when the Dark Ocean made it's move. It was an elaborate plan, something that Kari protested against mightily, but the rest of the Digidestined felt it was necessary to take such high precautions. Anytime she stepped out of her apartment, even if it was to just pick up the newspaper or pick up groceries at the local market that was only a couple blocks away, she had to have one of the Digidestined with her. Even at home, she was under surveillance, with friends walking in and out of her apartment home whenever her older brother couldn't watch her. Unnerving and somewhat annoying, the change in lifestyle was not welcomed by the young girl.

Kari was seated on her couch, watching TV, when Tai came out from his room. She looked over to see he was dressed to go outside, with a dark blue overcoat on for the cold night.

"Ok, Kari. TK should be here any minute now."

"Uh huh."

"Remember, if anything happens…"

"Contact the others through the D-Terminal. I know." She finished for her older brother. She looked up at Tai with a knowing look. "It's not like I can do anything else, anyways."

The Digidestined of Courage placed his hand on her head and shook it playfully. "I know it's tough."

"You have no idea." Kari mumbled.

"Hey, it's not all bad. This way you'll always have company and people to play with." Tai joked. "Don't worry; it'll only be for a little while. We can all go back to normal once we beat the Dark Ocean. Trust me, the tension is killing me too." The door bell rang. "You're my little sister, Kari. I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

Kari sighed. "I know. I guess I've been just nervous with everything going on."

"Me too." The Kamiya boy opened the front door, letting TK in the house.

"Hey TK. Got everything?"

The blonde nodded. "Yep. D-3 and D-Terminal right here."

"Good. Cody and Davis should be nearby in case anything happens. I won't be gone for too long; just going to have dinner with Sora and I'll come straight back." Tai started to head out the door before stopping. He turned to TK. "Where's Patamon?"

"Oh, he's coming soon. I left him home while I took care of some stuff."

"Ok. But make sure he gets here quick. A Digidestined without his Digimon isn't much of a Digidestined." Tai reminded the younger boy. "Have fun you two." With that, the Child of Courage left the apartment.

TK gave his best friend a smile as he made his way to the sofa Kari was seated in. The brunette raised an eyebrow as a small smile formed on her face as well.

"Why are you so happy?" She asked.

"Just find it funny that I'm babysitting you…again. Kind of reminds me of the old days."

The Digidestined of Light rolled her eyes. "Quiet you."

The blonde fourteen year old sat down next to her. "What have you been up to?"

"Oh the usual. Waking up with my brother looming over me, being watched everywhere I go in the apartment, and not setting a single step outside."

TK chuckled. "Someone's a little bitter."

Kari sighed. "No…Not bitter. I understand it's all for my own good. And I know Tai's just watching out for me like he should be."

"But you hate being the center of attention."

Kari looked at the young boy sitting next to her and smiled at his comment; it was a testimony to the strength of their friendship. Their ability to understand one another was uncanny, almost scary. Being best friends wasn't even the right term to describe their relationship; they were so close and so bonded with each other that it wasn't surprising that they knew each other better than they knew themselves respectively.

"Yeah. It's so…_weird._ And uncomfortable. I guess I'm just not used to it. I mean, I've always tried to avoid being this is kind of situations but it looks like I have no choice this time."

"Now you know how I feel." TK smiled as he lightly flicked Kari's nose. "Being under the spotlight, put on the spot. It's like that for me at school."

Kari frowned playfully from his flick. "Well, _you _asked for it. You knew it was coming, being the star basketball player."

"Yeah but doesn't mean I enjoy it."

"How do you deal with it?"

The young blonde shrugged. "I just don't think about it. But it does make my life a lot harder." He gave her a look. "And it doesn't help that you keep teasing me about it."

Kari giggled. "Sorry. I guess now I can't say anything."

"Yeah. Yours is on a different extreme though; it's almost like we're stalking you. Watching your every step, seeing everything you do…I've never had to deal with stalkers."

"None that you know of." The brunette mumbled.

"Eh?"

She smiled sweetly. "Nothing."

The two friends continued their talk as they absentmindedly watched TV. Their conversation changed topics frequently and randomly as they went on about relevant subjects like school and their Digimon to haphazard stuff like Davis' hair and favorite movies. It was a relieving moment for Kari; while she never really showed it, the past couple days had made her nervous and somewhat tense. For her to relax and actually enjoy herself in a time of great danger meant a lot to her. It was one of the reasons why TK was her best friend. He had an amazing ability to lift her spirits, no matter what the circumstance.

"Hey. Want to go for a walk?" TK abruptly asked.

Kari gave him a puzzled look. "But Tai told us to stay indoors."

He gave her a mischievous grin in response. "Come on. It'll be for like five minutes. Besides, Tai isn't going to come back for a while."

"My, my. Since when did you have the courage to go against my brother's orders? Especially about his little sister's safety?"

"I don't. That's why it's only going to be for five minutes."

Both of them laughed.

"No but seriously; want to go? I know you've been stuck in this apartment all day and that you're dying to go outside."

She shook her head in amazement as she giggled. "TK…" The brunette smiled. "Ok, let me get my jacket from my room." She got up from the sofa and made her way into her room.

She quietly opened the door and snuck in. Gatomon was taking a nap and the Digidestined of Light didn't want to wake her up; the feline Digimon was exhausted from her shift the day before and Kari wasn't sure how her Digimon would react to her going out. Silently and quickly, she grabbed a jacket and a scarf from her closet and made her way out.

She put on her light pink, knitted, hood coat as she wrapped her neck with her white scarf. After she was done, she walked over to her waiting friend. TK got up from his seat and gave a nod toward the front door. Understanding his quiet message, Kari exited her apartment, following the blonde.

She welcomed the nippy cold air that seemed to rush at her. It was her first taste of outdoors all day and she was savoring it. She took a deep breath as she walked side by side with TK. They made their way to the elevator and headed out of the apartment home complex. They continued to walk down the sidewalk in almost in a wandering fashion, not really knowing where they were going. But it didn't bother Kari; she was just happy to be outside.

"Who are you going with to the winter dance?" TK asked, ending the peaceful silence between the two of them.

"I don't know. I haven't really thought about it." She answered honestly.

The blonde boy gave her a smile. "Want to go with me?"

The Child of Light looked at her best friend to see if there was a hint of seriousness in his question. When she saw his smile grow even bigger, she shook her head and giggled.

"Stop joking around."

TK gave a false hurt look. "Why not?"

"First off, you know that if you and I went to the dance, it would just feed the rumors and gossips around school about us. Second, I wouldn't go with anyone who asks me like _that_."

"What do you mean?"

Kari shrugged. "I don't know. I always imagined someone asking me to a dance romantically…"

"Romantically…"

"…Or in a way that shows he put time into it. Something that has sentimental value."

"Sentimental value…" TK repeated wistfully. He then chuckled. "Dang, Kari. I didn't know you had such high standards."

"Well, it's my first high school dance. Plus, I _am_ a girl. Is it too much to ask to make my first dance memorable?"

"No, you're right."

"How about you? Who are you going with to the dance?"

TK shook his head. "I don't know. I don't have a date either."

"You mean, you _choose _to not have a date."

"Eh?" The blonde threw a confused look as he shifted his hat around on his head. "What do you mean?"

The brunette rolled her eyes. "TK, you and I both know that you could pretty much go with any girl throughout the school. You just choose not to."

"That's not true."

"Uh huh." Kari gave a puzzled look. "Why aren't you going with any of the girls?"

"I guess no one I feel comfortable going with."

"Oh. Well, you'll find someone. It's me that has to worry."

"I see. I'm sure someone will ask you too." TK stopped walking, leading to Kari to halt as well. He went through his pockets. "That reminds me…I have something for you."

"Hm?" The Digidestined girl became curious. "What is it?"

He took out pictures and grinned as he handed them to her. "Here. I know you love pictures so I printed some out from my camera."

"Really? Which pictures?" She asked as she took the pictures.

"You'll see."

She took a look at the first picture; it was a picture of them at the beach two summers ago. TK had, playfully, put the young girl in a chokehold and was messing her hair up while the brunette was struggling to get out of the position but was laughing while trying. The two of them looked like they were having a lot of fun and a great time, with the right blue sky and beach like environment in the background. It was also one of the few moments TK did not have his hat on. Kari smiled as memories started to flood her mind of that particular moment. Written in big black marking, on the bottom of the portrait, it read, "We have a lot of fun moments together…"

She went on to the next picture. It was a headshot of the two, with TK holding the camera from afar, trying to get a good angle. She recalled that it was taken on the day that Kari commented that the two weren't in enough pictures together; in response, TK took out his camera and forced her to be in the photo with him. She resisted at first, insisting she didn't mean in like that, but eventually she gave in to the boy's persistence. However, it was evident in the picture that the smiles on their face was forced, making them look awkward with each other. Again, there was writing, only it was on the top. It read, "And a lot of awkward ones too…"

She flipped to the next image. It was them again, in the same position, only in the photo at hand, instead of a false and weird smile, the two friends were making ridiculous faces at the camera. TK's tongue was stuck out while he made a scrunched up facial expression and Kari was cross-eyed. The brunette giggled as she remembered that, shortly after they took the "smiling" picture, they were displeased with it. So, as a result, they decided to take another one right after, acting goofy and child-like. Again, there was writing on the picture which stated, "That are usually followed by outrageous instances like this…"

Still laughing, she flipped to the next one. It was the picture they took when they went to New York together two years ago. It was taken by TK's laptop when they ran into Willis. Kari was leaning against the blonde boy, smiling at the camera while the Digidestined of Hope grinned happily with the victory sign. On the bottom, it read, "We have so many memorable experiences that I'm eager to start another…"

The final photo was a picture with TK leaning down as if to whisper something. He had a sly grin on his face as he was slightly bent over. Kari had a face full of laughter, as if TK had told her a funny joke. The brunette remembered that Sora took the shot of them and it was back last year when the Digidestined decided to go ice-skating together. While the picture seemed simple, there was an inner beauty that laid in it; for some reason, the photo had a prefect vibe. Whether it was because of the angle of the shot or the exact moment it was taken, the image looked like something for a postcard, full of laughter and sincere happiness. On the top, it read, "So do you want to start one by going to the winter ball together?" One the bottom, it was inscribed, "Kari Kamiya, will you go to the winter dance with me? - TK."

Immediately, a sense of confusion and disbelief overwhelmed her as she looked up at her best friend with a startled look. TK was grinning at her. She looked into his cerulean eyes, to see if he was serious; she found nothing but sincerity in them. He raised an eyebrow, still with a smile.

"Well, Kari? Will you?" He asked.

The fear of rumors and gossips spreading like wildfire quickly entered her mind. But as she stared into her best friend's eyes, the fear left her mind as fast as it entered.

The Digidestined of Light's gaze softened as she smiled in a caring fashion. "Oh TK…of course I'll go with you."

The blonde pumped his fist in celebration. Kari hugged her friend. "Rejecting you after all that would be too harsh." She joked.

TK laughed. "I'm glad you have sympathy."

As they let go of each other, Kari giggled. "Well, I guess that's one less thing to worry about."

"Definitely. Now, let's head back to the apartment before Tai comes back and kills me for letting you out."

Both of them laughed as they walked toward Kari's home. For that moment, the young girl forgot about the danger, the pressure, the tension, and the nervousness; her threatened life, her lack of freedom, and her fear of inevitable attack left her mind. The only thing she felt was the great inner happiness and contentment she found by being next to her best friend.

* * *

"Thanks for dinner, Tai." Sora stated as the couple made their way to the girl's apartment.

"No problem. It's nice to relax every now and then with everything going on."

The Digidestined of Love nodded. "I agree. You've been so stressed lately; you deserve a break."

The brown haired boy smiled. "And what better way to spend it then with you?"

His girlfriend gave him a sly look. "Aw, look at you, trying to be cute. Don't do it too much though; it doesn't suite you too well."

"You're a funny one." Tai added sarcastically, leading to Sora laughing. After their brief moment of laughter, The Child of Courage leaned against the wall next to the front door.

"But seriously, these last couple days have been so nerve-racking and stressful. I wish the Dark Ocean would just attack already. I hate this waiting game we have to play." Tai sighed.

Sora placed her hand on his arm. "It'll be ok, Tai. We'll protect Kari, don't worry. Everyone is trying their best and you know what we're capable of when we put our minds to it."

"Yeah…I'm not doubting us…it's just…it's Kari you know? My whole life I've looked out for her; most of the time I've done a good job but…there are some times when I've failed and I've just been really lucky that things turned out ok."

"You're a great brother. I'm sure Kari thinks so as well."

"But is being a good brother enough to protect her?" He shrugged, leaving the question open-ended. He moved from his position and leaned in to kiss Sora on the cheek. "I'm going to go; got to get back watch over Kari."

Sora smiled in returned as she hugged her boyfriend. "Ok." She leaned up to his ear and whispered, "Tai, don't worry. You're doing fine."

The leader of the Digidestined smiled a little. "Thanks, Sora. See you tomorrow."

"Bye." And with that, the brunette watched Tai walked away from her, toward the elevator. When he disappeared from her sight, she sighed, almost in sadness, as she gazed up at the sky; it was a cold and bland night, indicating the coming of the winter season. She continued to stare, looking at the stars above, almost in a searching manner. After a minute of reminiscing, she turned around and made her way into her home, where she could warm up from the chilly weather.

* * *

Did you guys LIKE IT??? Crap, it's getting more interesting for me the write but as it gets more interesting, it continues to get harder. Your reviews boast my confidence so R+R!! thanks for reading! 


	4. Chapter 4: Promise You

Wow…another chapter already??!!!! I must be on a roll… hahaha. Thanks for being patient and hope you enjoy this chapter

**Chapter 4**

Just as Kari expected, news spread fast as the two of them became the talk of the school quickly. Even after a week since TK asked her to the dance, students all around them kept pestering her and pressuring her about her relationship with TK; no one believed her when she said they were just going as friends. And, to make it worse, she was under heavy scrutiny by the girl population of the school. Whether it was about how the brunette wasn't good enough for TK or about how her hair was too short and how she wasn't girly enough or that her style was distasteful, it seemed girls picked her apart, trying to find bad qualities about her.

Despite the negativity surrounding her, Kari did her best to simply shrug them off and not let them bother her. Even as she walked down the halls of the school, with various teenage girls whispering and muttering inaudibly around her, some pointing at her as she passed by, she just ignored it. Her chocolate like eyes lit up when she saw TK not too far from her, talking to some of his friends. One of them nodded his head toward her which caused the Digidestined of Hope to turn around. As soon as their eyes made contact, a big grin formed on the blonde's face.

"Hey Kari!" He turned to his friends, briefly said something, and made his way in her direction.

She smiled back as she waited. Ever since TK asked her to the dance, the two of them started to hang out more than they used to. While they saw and spend time with each other quite often beforehand, it just seemed that recently they were with each other even more. Also, while Kari couldn't explain it, she could tell there was a change in their friendship; she felt much more comfortable and seemed to enjoy herself more hanging out with her best friend. And she actually started to look forward to seeing TK. It was change but it was a change that, for some reason, she liked.

"How was your day?"

TK's question broke her train of thought, sending her back to earth. Kari gave him a small smile. "It was good. The usual."

"So…girls hounding you, listening to rumors about yourself, and having two of us watching your back at all times?"

She giggled. "Yep. I didn't even really notice Davis and Yolei for most of the day. Or how Gatomon was in every window I passed by. Or DemiVeemon's horrible disguise as a tree."

TK laughed as the two of them made their way to the front gate of school. "Must be fun being you. Getting all the attention."

She rolled her eyes. TK's teasing had increased since the day Azulongmon told the Digidestined of the Dark Ocean. In a way, she knew he was getting back at her for teasing him about being the center of attention throughout high school. The blonde's playful side had been showing more often than before but Kari didn't mind. If anything, it made her forget about the situation around her. Plus, it gave him a boyish vibe that always seemed to make her smile.

As they were about to leave the school premises, Kari heard someone yell her name. She turned around to see Yolei and Davis with DemiVeemon and Poromon rushing at them.

"Hey guys. What's up?" TK asked.

"What do you mean? Someone needs to watch over Kari!" Davis exclaimed loudly.

Yolei nodded. "Your brother would blow a fuse if we left you alone."

Right on cue, Gatomon and Patamon appeared out of a nearby tree and made their way to their partners. "Don't worry; we were watching them." Gatomon stated. Patamon nodded in confirmation.

"It doesn't matter; one of us have to be with her at _all _times!" Davis replied.

"But there's three of you guys." The brunette countered.

"That's right. Who's shift is it?" DemiVeemon asked curiously.

The spiky haired boy had a pensive look on his face. "Oh, I don't know…I was suppose to watch her until lunch. Then Yolei was suppose to watch her until school was over…" He gave a puzzled look. "Who's shift _is _it?"

"It's ok, I'll watch her." TK stepped up.

"You sure? Don't you have basketball practice?" Yolei asked.

The Digidestined of Hope shook his head. "Coach cancelled and told us to take the day off."

"Ok. I can be with her until dinner time too. So TA and I will watch Kari." Davis remarked. He turned to Yolei. "How about you?"

"I actually have something to do. Sorry, guys."

"It's ok; I'm sure two Digidestineds with their Digimons should be ok." Patamon piped.

"Ok, well have fun guys! I need to go." With that, the purple haired Digidestined ran off in a different direction, leaving the two boys and brunette at school. As she left, Davis snorted loudly.

"She's been acting weird all day today. During school, she wasn't paying attention to anything and constantly kept looking at the clock."

TK gave a small smile. "I'm sure she has something to do that she's looking forward to."

Davis shrugged. He untucked his school uniform and loosened the tie around his neck. The teenager blew a heavy sigh of relief as the trio walked away from school.

"I'm so glad school's over!" He exclaimed.

"_I'm_ glad it's the weekend." Kari added.

The spiky haired boy gave a smile to the brunette. "Yeah! I'm glad about that too."

Kari couldn't help but smile as she rolled her eyes. Davis still had a crush on the young girl and still tried to woo her over by getting on her good side. While it wasn't as much as before, where it was a near obsession, the signs were still there and led to many instances where Davis would try to flirt with her.

"I'm just happy I don't have practice this weekend." TK stated.

Davis scoffed. "Whatever, TS. Basketball isn't that hard."

Of course, because of Davis' crush on Kari, he held an immeasurable grudge against TK for asking her to the dance before he did. Ever since rumors leaked throughout school, The goggled head boy acted somewhat childish and bitter towards the blonde. The funny thing was, before that, Davis and TK actually had a good friendship. Their adventures together two years ago started off rocky, with Davis being extremely jealous of the Digdestined of Hope because of his strong bond with Kari, but by the time they had defeated MaloMyotismon, both of them regarded each other as great friends and actually got along fine afterwards.

TK, being the person he was, ignored the remark as they kept walking. Kari knew he understood the situation between him and his good friend and that he wouldn't act rashly on it.

"So, Gatomon, where did you go last night?" Kari asked out loud, hoping to change the subject.

"I went on my routine nightly stroll. You knew that already." The feline reminded her.

"Right." Kari responded, knowing how pathetic of an attempt it sounded as she tried to change the topic. TK chuckled behind her; he knew too.

"I wonder when it's going to snow…" The blonde asked wistfully.

DemiVeemon's face lit up. "Snow! Yeah! I love the snow! When's it coming Davis?" He asked in his babyish voice.

The Digidestined partner shrugged. "How am I suppose to know? It's December so it should be snowing soon."

"Hey TK, where are we going?" Patamon asked as he landed on the blonde's head. Kari gave a look around; they had been walking aimlessly for a while but they somehow ended up close to her home. A disappointment overwhelmed her. As much as she loved to be home, she wasn't looking forward to being under constant watch by her brother.

TK gave her a knowing look; From the looks of his expression, he too knew they were close to her apartment and was silently asking her if she wanted to go home. She gently shook her head. The blonde smiled a bit before reverting his attention to his Digimon.

"I'm not sure but we're close to Davis' home." He lied.

"Eh? Really?" Davis exclaimed, somewhat confused. "This area doesn't look too familiar to me."

"We're actually closer to--" Gatomon couldn't finish as Kari put her hands over her mouth, preventing the Digimon to speak.

"Yeah so, if you want Davis, we can stop by your place." The Digidestined of Hope continued.

The spiky haired boy shrugged. "Sure, I guess."

"Alright then, let's go." With that, the group, led by TK, turned around and headed the opposite direction from Kari's home. As they continued to talk amongst each other, The Digidestined of Light couldn't help but share a smile with her best friend, thanking him for understanding her situation and her desire for a bit more freedom. While she didn't notice it, she subconsciously moved closer to the blonde, with their hands brushing each other's, almost in a teasing manner.

* * *

Yolei ran and ran without a second thought; she wasn't necessarily late but the mere thought of what she was about to do gave her an adrenaline rush, forcing her to find an outlet for her extra energy. Poromon, unfortunately, was getting the other end of the result; Yolei was so nervous and anxious that she was squeezing the life out of the Digimon as she ran. She made her way to the Odaiba bridge and stopped. Standing over the ledge of the bridge was Ken, staring off into the horizon, not noticing the older girl's presence. Yolei took a deep breath as she nervously prepared herself. 

"Yolei, you're trembling." Her In-Training Digimon pointed out.

"Well, duh, Poromon. I'm about to ask Ken to my dance. It's kind of nerve-racking."

"Don't worry; you'll be fine."

She sighed in response as she momentarily hung her head. But she quickly raised it with a determined look on her face. "Ok, here goes nothing." She walked.

Ken was in his school uniform, which was a little different than Odaiba's uniform, and looked like an ordinary school boy but one thing consistently separated him from the other males. The raven haired Digidestined always had a mysterious aura around him, giving off a somewhat chilly vibe. His demeanor was enigmatic; his outward attitude the same as that of a secretive individual. Despite the publicity surrounding him for being a genius and a well known soccer player, he still managed to be reserved and kept his life private. With his stoic impression, many people have judged the boy as shady and untrustworthy. But only his true friends knew the real side of him.

Yolei too judged Ken in an ominous fashion at first but as time pasted, she saw that Ken was very different from how his disposition portrayed him. Ken was very caring and warm hearted to everyone around him, thinking of others as he went about everyday. If anything, he was one of the kindest boys the purple haired girl had met. In a way, the darkness that overwhelmed him early on in his life left a undying sadness within him, always being a part of the fourteen year old. His painful past trailed his every move, following like an unwanted shadow, explaining the mystifying aura that illuminated around him.

Ken finally noticed the older girl approaching him and gave her a small smile. "Hey, Yolei." He greeted.

"Hey Ken. Thanks for meeting me out here. I would have gone to Tamachi but I actually need to be home soon."

"It's no problem. Wormmon and I had a pleasant trip here." He was referring to his caterpillar like Digimon who was next to him.

"Oh, that's good to hear." Yolei gave a glance to Poromon. He nodded in confirmation.

"Hey, Wormmon, can I show you something?" The bird Digimon asked although he was already dragging along the other Digimon away from their human partners. Wormmon had a surprised look but allowed Poromon to guide him away. Alone with Ken, Yolei found herself more comfortable with the situation.

"So…did you want to talk to me about something?" The fourteen year old genius asked politely.

"Oh, right. Um…" Even with the perfect opportunity in front of her, the girl couldn't seem to bring herself to ask. "How was school?"

"It was good. A bit tiring because I have a test next week but other than that, it was a normal school day. How about you?"

"Me? It was…good." Seeing the conversation leading nowhere and being pointless, Yolei sighed. "Ok, Ken…I want to ask you something but I'm not exactly sure how to ask."

The Digidestined boy gave a puzzled look. "Why not? You can ask me anything, Yolei."

"Not…_anything_." She remarked before shaking her head. "Anyways, my point is…well… does Tamachi have a winter dance?"

"Yeah."

"Well, so does Odaiba."

"I would assume so." Ken slowly stated, unsure of how to answer.

Yolei wanted to slap the genius boy for being so blind. "Yeah…I WAS WONDERING IF YOU WANTED TO GO TO ODAIBA'S DANCE WITH ME!" She yelled quickly as she shut her eyes closed. She opened one slightly to see Ken shocked.

"Really?"

"Well…yeah. No, Ken, I'm joking here." She added sarcastically.

The raven haired boy maintained his shocked expression before regaining his composure. He coughed loudly. "Wow, Yolei…I wasn't expecting this."

She couldn't decide whether she liked or didn't like the response. Not sure what his answer meant, she asked slowly, "So…will you?"

Ken gave her smile. "Of course, Yolei. I would be honored to go with you."

A burst of happiness and joy suddenly developed within her after hearing his answer and before she knew it, she hugged the boy with great ecstasy, surprising the Digidestined of Kindness.

"Oh my God, Ken! I can't believe you said yes! I was so scared that you were going to reject me or judge me for asking you; not saying that you are the type of person who would judge anyone, because you're not, but still I had this small doubt in my mind that maybe you would and that you would took down on me as some sad older classman who can't get a date to the dance which I could've but I really wanted to go with you but still I worried that you would tell others that I was desperate for a date which then I WOULD HAVE KILLED YOU, KEN ICHIJOUJI!" The purple haired Digidestined ended fiercely.

Ken gave a shocked look but was still somewhat smiling. "Well, then it's a good thing I didn't say no."

"You bet! Ok Ken, I'll see you later and I'll call you about the dance, about the time, and day it's going to be on and where we should meet up to go! Bye!" Before the boy could respond, Yolei ran away from the bridge, leaving him in her dusts. She grabbed a very startled Poromon on the way but never stopped running.

Ken still had the surprised look on his face but after taking a moment, he shook in head while chuckling. Wormmon approached him with his own bewildered expression.

"What was that all about, Ken?" The Digimon asked.

The Digidestined, still chuckling, stared off in the direction Yolei ran off to. "It was nothing." He looked down at Wormmon with a smile. "Well, looks like I need to start looking for a tuxedo."

* * *

TK and Kari continued their walk as they made their way into Odaiba Park. They walked to Davis' house and dropped him off but even with that, the brunette had no desire to go back to her apartment. So, the two of them decided a stroll around the park would be a nice way to kill time. Both of them knew they were breaking the rules but, for Kari, she couldn't care less; all she wanted was to be free. 

It was midday, with the sun starting to set off into the horizon. The park was full of color and beauty. Because it was around the end of fall, the once green and vibrant leafs were actually yellow and orange, slowly dropping to the ground as they withered away from the trees. However, the variation of colors and the simple natural beauty of the fall season gave the park a very peaceful and beautiful scenery. Also, the sun setting in the background further enhanced that image.

It was a bit chilly, with Kari wearing nothing but her school uniform which consisted of a blouse and skirt, but she was willing to bear it. She quickly took out her camera and took a picture of the view.

"You and pictures." TK commented.

She looked up at him with a knowing glance. "Pictures capture a moment in time that you can cherish forever. Pictures are _important_." She emphasized. "Plus, this is _beautiful._"

The blonde looked around wistfully. "It is."

She stopped walking to take another picture of the image before her. After she took it, she looked around her. "I could stay here forever."

"Too bad you have to go home soon." Gatomon reminded her. Her Digimon didn't like the fact that Kari was breaking the rules and endangering herself by staying out longer.

The mere thought of going back home made the young girl sigh. Seeing this, TK placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey, it's not that bad." He tried to cheer her up.

"It's not that. I don't really mind staying home and have Tai watch me everywhere I go. It's just…this whole situation."

"What do you mean?"

Kari noticed Patamon flying over to Gatomon and whispering something into the feline's ear. Gatomon gave a skeptical look back at the other Digimon. "I have a bad feeling about this whole thing. The Dark Ocean and everything." The Digidestined of Light admitted. "Being on the edge, always on alert, waiting…it's just not _right_."

"We're just being cautious…"

"I know but for some reason…I have a feeling it's not going to work." She looked him in the eyes. "Like something bad is going to happen despite our efforts." She was aware that both of their Digimon had left the humans alone.

She continued slowly, revealing her worst fears to her best friend. "Every time I've been the center of attention, or when things have revolved around me, someone ends up getting hurt. Nothing good comes out of these situations and I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me; I'd rather surrender myself then watch any of you suffer. Still…" She paused.

"Still…?" TK repeated, gently pushing her to finish her sentence.

She sighed in defeat. "I'm scared, TK. I'm scared for _me._ I don't want to go back to the Dark Ocean. That place is…a nightmare. An evil place. Anytime I think about it, think about the darkness and influence it has, I can't help but tremble in fear. I don't want it to swallow me." Her eyes, with both sadness and terror, pierced into her friend. TK looked back, with a concerned expression as he too stared into her eyes.

"Kari…" He started. "It's ok. You don't have to worry about us. We'll be fine and watching over you is something we _want _to do. Because we care about you. You don't have to feel responsible for us and whatever happens, happens. We've been through a lot and fought a lot of bad people but we've always managed to find a way to endure and win, you know? All of us are still here, healthy and happy, so you can't say we don't know how to take care of ourselves. And with you…" TK lifted her chin slightly. She was a bit startled by his action but she simply continued looking into his eyes. "You'll be fine too, Kari. We're all here to protect you and I guarantee you we'll let nothing happen to you. We won't let the Dark Ocean take you like last time. And if it does, I'll personally go and rescue you again." He was referring to the first time she was taken to the dark dimension. "I'm not going to stand here and say I know how you feel because I don't; I doubt anyone does. But I can say that we won't let that happen again. _I _won't let it happen again." She saw nothing but determination and sincerity in his eyes. And, despite the fact knowing that TK was just trying to cheer her up and keep her optimism high, she felt compelled to believe him; he said it with such confidence and fortitude that it sounded like he couldn't be wrong. A measure of hope and ray of faith grew within the brunette as she continued to lose herself in the cerulean eyes before her.

Kari couldn't help but smile gently. "Really? You're sure?" She asked quietly.

TK grinned. "Nothing bad will happen. I _promise_ you."

As soon as the blonde guaranteed her, everything seemed to be ok for the young fourteen year old girl. Kari felt the pressures and the dangers of the situation suddenly drop from her shoulders; the burdens of worrying and being afraid left her as the assurance made her feel comfortable and, for the first time in a long time, she felt truly safe.

"Are you sure about that? That's a pretty bold vow to undertake, Digidestined." A deep, hoarse voice boomed throughout the park.

Kari was startled by the outburst as TK immediately looked around, trying to find the source of the proclamation. He instinctively put his arm in front of her, signaling her to stand back.

"Patamon! Gatomon!" TK yelled, trying to find their Digimons.

"We're right here." Patamon replied. He flew down from a nearby tree while Gatomon climbed down and made her way near Kari.

Then, without a warning, a figure appeared from the ground in front of them. Cloaked in a maroon red cloak with giant demonic wings extended from the back and with a pair of twisted horns, the Digimon stood before them as an imposing figure. An ancient tablet like medallion hung around it's neck while archaic symbols ran down the Digimon's cloak which included an upside down star with an eye imprinted on the forehand section of the shawl. It's face too was masked by the cloak, with only it's pale purple, sinister eyes visible. It took a second but after recovering from her shock, Kari knew who it was and now knew the seriousness of the ordeal at hand. Winds gusted about as TK, still with his arm in front of her, stared down the intruder.

"_Daemon…_"

* * *

DID YOU GUYS LIKE THAT???!!!! Hahaha, dramatic huh? I hope it was good. I know the chapter was shorter than the rest but…eh, at least it's getting interesting right? Ending the chapter in a cliffhanger moment is nerve racking, I know, but it's exciting now! Please review! Your guys comments are GREATLY appreciated! 

I'd also like to leave thanks to mangagirl18 for correcting me about the whole 'Odaiba and Tokyo' incident…haha I was actually going to say this EARLIER but I forgot. . But yeah, thanks for the catch and, as you can tell, I went back and corrected it!

Thanks to my reviewers who have left encouraging words up to now and I hope I won't disappoint!


	5. Chapter 5: The Fate of One

Hello, everyone! Well, I'm back with the latest chapter! Hope you guys like it! This chapter was fun to write and I hope you guys find it equally fun to read.**  
**

**Chapter 5**

"Focus Cody, focus. Waiting for your opponent's next strike is important but futile if you're not concentrated."

The little browned haired boy nodded his head at his grandfather. He was sweating, tired from the hour of kendo practice. Breathing heavily, Cody raised his kendo stick and stood in a defensive position. His grandfather followed. A moment of silence filled the air but was broken off as the eleven year old charged at the elder. He took a giant swing, only to find it parried off. In retaliation, he aimed for the torso area, hoping to get a blow through. Again, countered by the old man. This time, the instructor went on the offensive, forcing the young Digidestined to defend himself. As he continued to shield himself, the attacks became stronger and more precise; his grandfather was building momentum through every attack. Cody knew if he didn't do something fast, he would lose the bout. When one of the attack came down, the young boy side-stepped it, getting on the weak side of his teacher. With a open look, Cody swung his kendo stick with great force. However, his grandfather, amazingly, deflected the attack. Because of the impact of his attack, and his surprise, the young boy was thrown off by the deflection and lost balance. His grandpa hit him across the torso, ending the battle.

Cody sighed in defeat. He took his helmet off as he sat down, exhausted. His grandfather, also breathing heavily, sat down next to him.

"You did well, Cody; Your quick thinking almost won you the fight."

"Thank you, grandpa."

"However, your defensive posture is still too weak. You can't always rely on that smart brain of yours; you need to develop the fundamentals more."

"Yes, grandpa." Cody closed his eyes for a moment, trying to soak in the exhaustion that was overwhelming him.

"Are you ok, Cody? You seem very distracted lately."

Distracted was an understatement. The Digidestined was constantly busy with life, never finding time to relax or take a moment to enjoy anything. School was getting tougher than ever, forcing him to study more rigorously than before, resulting in many long nights for the little boy. With kendo practice and his latest responsibility to worry about Kari and the Dark Ocean, Cody was mentally drained over the past couple days, almost unable to coup with everything around him.

"I'm ok. I've been busy lately so I'm a little tired." He answered in his husky voice, not wanting to worry his grandfather about his health.

"Very well. Do you want to call it a day?"

Cody got up quickly. "No, no Grandpa. We still have ten minutes left of practice; I'm ok, really."

His instructor gave him a long look before nodding. "Ok, Cody. Let's continue then."

Cody took a deep breath as he focused his mind on his kendo practice. He put his helmet back on, raised his kendo stick, and got ready for the next fight, unaware of his D-Terminal vibrating in the distance.

* * *

"It has definitely been a while, Digidestined." Daemon chuckled. "Did you miss me?" He added sarcastically. 

"Not enough to want you back." TK shot back. Angemon and Angewomon stood in front of him, alert and ready for any surprises from the Demon Digimon. The blonde turned to Kari.

"Did you contact the others?" he whispered.

The Digidestined of Light nodded in response; she had sent everyone a message through the D-Terminal, telling them of the danger that the two were in. Now, it was a matter of waiting until the others came to aid them.

"You didn't think you'd see the last of me, did you? I told you I would come back." Daemon was referring to their last encounter two years ago.

"Well, forgive us for not throwing you a welcome back party." Angewomon replied.

Angemon turned to TK. "Should we fight him?"

The blonde shook his head. "He's too powerful. Remember the last time we fought him?" Kari remembered. Although it was a couple years ago, the brunette never forgot their battle with the dark Digimon. It was a battle full of despair, fear, and probably one of the luckiest fights the Digidestined had won. Despite the combined efforts of all their fully DNA Digivolved Digimon, Daemon easily was able to fend off their attacks and, for the longest time, it seemed that the demon Digimon would end up as the victor. Thanks to their quick thinking and a lot of luck, however, Kari and the others were able to halt the powerful being by exiling him to the Dark Ocean. While they never really defeated Daemon, they were able to stop his diabolical plans from unfolding at the time.

Apparently TK remembered the fight as well. "We have to stall time until the others come."

"Amusing." The evil Digimon stated in his deep and hoarse voice. "Unfortunately, I don't have time to chit chat. Give me what I want and I promise not to hurt you too badly."

The two angel Digimon raised their guards. "You'll have to go through us first." Angemon proclaimed as he wielded his staff.

"Fine by me!" With super fast reflexes, Daemon charged at the two Digimon with incredible speed. He hooked both of them and threw them, sending both Digimon flying backward. TK grabbed Kari's hand. "Follow me." He ordered as he lead her away from the battle scene.

The two teenagers ran and ran through the open field of the park, desperately looking for cover. As they ran, Kari noticed TK's hat flying off his head, being taken away by the gust of wind. What was even more shocking was that her best friend didn't seem to care, not noticing his normally obsessed-over hat. She gave one final look back at the seemingly flying hat before reverting her attention to finding shelter. Finally, they spotted a giant rock, and took cover behind it. Panting, Kari looked at TK.

"Shouldn't we help Angemon and Angewomon?" She asked.

TK peeked over the rock, checking for any danger. "No. They know what to do. Right now, keeping you safe is priority."

Kari also peeked over the rock. She saw both of their Digimon and Daemon in the sky, flying by aerial means. Angemon and Angewomon were circling their opponent, as if looking for a open spot.

"_Hand of Fate!_" A bright glow of power formed in Angemon's hand as he unleashed his holy attack, sending a yellow beam at Daemon. It hit, causing a massive explosion followed by thick smoke to form around the enemy. However, Daemon still stood, unscratched from the assault.

"Pitiful." The demon-like Digimon scoffed with laughter as he rushed forward and threw an uppercut, sending Angemon flying away.

"_Celestial Arr-"_ Before Angewomon could finish the formation of her deadly bow and arrow attack, Daemon shot a quick bright purple ray of dark energy from his hand at her, disrupting her attack and wounding the angel Digimon greatly. Angewomon yelled in pain as she flung backwards before falling down to the ground.

"Like swatting flies." The dark opponent sneered, watching her fall. Before he could do anything more, Angemon tackled him from behind at full speed, sending both of the Digimon flying downwards, into the woods of the park. Daemon grunted loudly from the surprise attack as both of them impacted the ground with great force.

Kari turned to her best friend, with concern on her face. "TK, we can't just sit here and watch this. We have to do something!"

"What can we do? Daemon's too strong for us; the only thing we can do is buy time until the others come."

"But…" The brunette was at a loss of words. While the Digidestined of Hope had a valid point, she couldn't just watch their Digimon get beat around.

An explosion occurred within the woods. Soon after, Angemon flew out, battered and greatly wounded. He turned to TK and Kari. "TK! Run!_Now_!"

As soon as he completed his sentence, a narrow, bright, purple beam shot through the angel Digimon, thrusting him backwards and, ultimately, on the floor. Daemon walked out of the woods slowly, a smirk seen in his eyes.

"Angemon!" TK yelled.

"Well, that was fun. I must admit, I haven't enjoyed myself this much since the last time we fought, Digidestined. But still…a bit too easy for my taste." The Demon Digimon mocked. "Maybe next time, I can tie one of my hands behind my back; then maybe it'll be fair. And last longer too." He turned to TK and Kari. "But like I said before, I have little time for fun and games." Daemon slowly approached the two Digidestined.

TK turned to Kari and bit his lower lip in careful thought. "Kari, you need to run as far as you can. I'll try to--"

"KARI!" He was interrupted by a running Tai, who was heading in their direction. Behind him was WarGreymon, who was flying at the same rate his partner was running.

"TAI!" The brunette yelled back with ecstasy. Never before had the young girl ever felt so glad to see her older brother.

"I came as soon as I got your message." The Digidestined of Courage hugged her tightly. "Thank God you're alright." He reverted his attention to TK. "Thanks TK, for keeping her safe. I really owe you." He let go of his younger sibling and his expression immediately changed as he faced the Demon Digimon in front of them. "I'll take care it from here. WARGREYMON!" Tai pointed at his opponent. "Take him out!"

Without a second of hesitation, the dragon-warrior Digimon charged Daemon.

"More guests? How fun. I suppose I can spare a few more minutes." The dark demon smirked as he flew up, avoiding the charge.

WarGreymon followed the pursuit, disappearing until he became nothing more than a blimp in the sky.

Tai, the leader of the Digidestined, turned to TK. "TK, you stay here and protect Kari; the others are coming right now so WarGreymon and I will try to fend Daemon off until they do."

"Right."

"TK…" Kari heard from the distance; Angemon was getting up, slowly but surely. "I'll help WarGreymon."

"I will as well." Angewomon struggled to get up as she held onto her right arm which looked wounded. "We'll all try to. With our combined efforts, we might be able to distract him long enough."

"But Angewomon…" Kari looked at her Digimon partner with concern. She was in no condition to fight but before she could say anything, both of the angel Digimon flew off.

"Don't worry. They'll take care of themselves." The Digidestined of Hope reassured her, watching them fly off.

"I hope so." The brunette couldn't help but feel guilty that everything was happening because of her.

"Tai! TK! Kari!" She turned around to see Izzy running at them with Tentomon following close by.

"Izzy! Great timing!" Tai greeted the red haired boy. "Are the others coming as well?"

"I'm sure they're on their way. How's everything looking?"

The leader of the Digidestined pointed at the sky. "WarGreymon is fighting Daemon right now but I'm not sure how long he'll last. You should have Tentomon digivolve so he can help him."

"I'm on my way." Tentomon flew in the direction of the two fighting Digimon. Izzy pulled out his Digivice and nodded.

"Alright, Tentomon. Let's go."

"_Tentomon digivolve to…Kabuterimon!"_

"_Kabuterimon digivolve to…MegaKabuterimon!"_

As the giant beetle-like Digimon made his way to help out his companions, Izzy sat down and pulled out his laptop, typing furiously.

"What are you typing?" TK asked.

"I'm sending an email to Gennai to inform him that we have initiated combat with the enemy." After a couple minutes, the Digidestined of Knowledge stopped. "Prodigious. Now, we wait until everyone gets here."

"I say we wipe out this creep right now. It's a four on one; we have the upper hand." Tai firmly stated, concentrating on the battle in the sky from afar. "Shoot. I wish I had binoculars or something. I can't tell if we're winning or not."

TK shook his head. "Daemon was able to fight off all of us before easily. I wouldn't be surprised if Angemon, Angewomon, WarGreymon, and MegaKabuterimon struggle against this guy."

Kari bit her lower lip in nervousness; TK had a point. While they did have numbers, deep down, the brunette knew that Daemon would be more than enough for them.

"Hey, Look! The others are here!" Izzy pointed out. Kari looked toward where he pointed at and saw Sora, Davis, Yolei, and Ken running at them, with Biyomon, Veemon, Hawkmon, and Wormmon along their side.

"Hey guys!" Davis yelled at them as they approached the other group of Digidestined.

"We came as soon as we got your message!" Biyomon stated.

Sora made her way to Kari with a concerned look on her face. "Are you ok?"

The fourteen year old girl nodded. "I'm ok. TK was here with me and Tai and Izzy came shortly after."

"Yeah, right now, our Digimon are holding off Daemon." Izzy complied. "With you guys here, we can finally coordinate our attacks and maximize our chances of victory."

TK looked around the group. "Wait…Where's Cody and Matt?"

No one answered. When it became apparent that no one knew where the two missing Digidestined were, Tai stepped up. "It's ok. They'll probably come later. With the majority of us here, we should be able to beat this loser!"

"I don't know about that…" Yolei started. Before the purple haired girl could finish, an explosion in the sky caught everyone's attention. After a few moments of dead silence, Kari noticed several figures falling down toward them.

"_Watch out!"_ Ken yelled. Everyone moved back as WarGreymon, Angemon, Gatomon, and MegaKabuterimon impacted the Earth at great velocity, causing tremors throughout the park and sending Kari to the floor. When the dusk died down, the brunette gasped at the sight in front of her: All four of the Digimon were badly wounded, each groaning in pain.

WarGreymon struggled to get up; one of his Dramon Destroyers, the massive claw-like gauntlets the Digimon possessed on each arm, was completely destroyed while his armor had cracks on over it, even having several holes. He grunted and groaned as he got on his knee. The Digimon slowly raised his head and looked at the Digidestined.

"Tai…" He coughed out. "I'm…_sorry_."

Tai had a face of horror as he looked at how badly beat up his Digimon was; Izzy and TK too shared the same expression as well. Kari wanted to yell for Gatomon but her throat was choking up due to the desperate sight in front of her.

"You can't blame him, really." Daemon stated while chuckling as he made his way down from the sky. "It's not his fault that the disparity in power between us is so great." The evil Digimon took noticed of the other Digidestined that had joined. "Well, well. Looks like we have a party going. So many people you've brought out, little ones." A dark ball of energy formed in his hand. "If you're going to throw a party, I should bring a guest as well!" He threw the energy ball into the air. The ball started to convolute and transform into different shapes until it slowly took on a definite form; a large form at that.

Taking up almost the entire open field, the ball of energy altered into a large, plant like monster with multiple long stem-like tentacles outreaching from it's side. It had bright pink petals growing from it's side and a large, carnivorous mouth that seemingly made up it's body, taking the place of where it's eyes, nose, and other facial features should be. In place of feet, it had roots to support it standing up, making it look like a giant mutant flower. When the ball finished taking form, the monster snarled and growled incessantly at the Digidestined. Kari winced at the distorted plant in front of her.

"What_is _that?" Yolei shrieked, having a disgust look on her face.

"It's called Ochumon." Izzy stated while on his laptop. "My Digimon Analyzer states that Ochumon is a mega level Digimon that often is referred to as 'Lord of the Forest.' It uses it's long vines to squeeze the life out of it's opponents and also can shoot out unlimited amount of tropical poison in the air, causing anyone inflicted by it to slow down drastically or even become fully paralyzed!"

"Sounds nasty." Veemon barked.

"Well, now that all the invitees are present and accounted for, let the party begin!" Daemon floated in the air. "_Destroy them, Ochumon."_ The plant Digimon complied as it riled up it's vines.

"TK, Davis, Ken, Yolei." Tai whispered, making sure Daemon couldn't hear. "You guys run away and protect Kari. Izzy, Sora, and I will fight off this thing. Don't go anywhere too far so that if anything happens, we can come to you guys. Go somewhere around the park area."

"Tai but you'll need all the help you can get!" Kari protested.

Her older brother shook her head. "Right now, your safety is our number one priority. We can't let anything happen to you." He turned to the other younger Digidestined. "Got it?" All of them nodded. "Alright. Sora? Izzy? Let's take care of this overgrown plant." The three of them rushed up to meet the monster in front of them, leaving behind the younger Digidestined.

"_Biyomon digivolve to…Birdramon!"_

"WarGreymon! Get up and let's wipe this clown out!" Kari heard Tai yelled. In response, his mega leveled Digimon stood on his feet and prepared himself for combat.

"You too MegaKabuterimon!" Izzy followed. The giant beetle Digimon got up as well.

Kari watched as all three Digimon charged at Ochumon, using their combined effort to fight with the evil Digimon. She noticed Gatomon and Angemon making their way toward her and immediately hugged her feline companion.

"Gatomon! Are you alright?" She asked.

"I'm ok…a bit banged up but I have eight more lives to go." Gatomon replied.

"How about you, Angemon?" TK also asked in concern.

The angel-like Digimon sat down next to the other Digidestined and sighed. "I'm fine too. First, let's get you guys to a safer place." Angemon picked all of them up and flew away from the battle scene.

"Do you think Tai and the others will be ok?" Davis asked out loud. "Ochumon doesn't look like a push-over."

"We should help!" Veemon proclaimed.

Yolei shook her head. "We have to stay behind and protect Kari."

"But Yolei, look." Hawkmon pointed out. "They need help." The Digimon was right; the three older Digidestined couldn't fend off Ochumon by themselves. MegaKabuterimon was already on the ground, beaten, and Birdramon's attacks simply didn't seem to faze the giant plant. WarGreymon was desperately trying to dodge the whipping vines coming at him but it was obvious he was tiring from it, with each vine getting closer and closer to hitting him. Tai was barking out orders from afar with Sora next to him while Izzy was on his laptop.

Kari suddenly felt bad about the situation. It was evident that their friends needed help but none of the younger Digidestined could aid them because of her. She silently cursed herself for the situation as Angemon flew further and further away from the ensuing battle, taking her to safety.

* * *

"This isn't looking good, Tai." Izzy stated. "We're not coordinating our attacks. Plus WarGreymon and MegaKabuterimon are both injured." 

"I know." The leader growled as he observed the fight. "But what do you want to do?"

"Aw. Are the poor Digidestined getting frustrated because they're losing?" Daemon taunted from above. "Don't worry; Ochumon likes to play around with his food before he eats them so your Digimon will have time to say goodbye to you all." He laughed.

"Tai, we should retreat and get one of the younger kids to help us." Izzy asserted, ignoring the demon Digimon.

The Digidestined of Courage sharply turned his head to his companion and shook his head. "No! Kari needs as much protection as she can get!"

"But Tai, our Digimon won't last much longer at this rate!" Sora budded in, pleading.

Then, suddenly, Ochumon was hit by something from behind, causing a massive blast. The explosion immediately started to spread ice throughout the Digimon's body, freezing it solid still. MetalGarurumon was in the sky, staring at the frozen Ochumon.

"Hey! Matt's here!" The brunette stated with enthusiasm. True enough, the Digidestined were able to spot the Digidestined of Friendship, who was waving at Tai and the others.

"Sorry I'm late!" Matt yell across the field.

"It's ok! Better late than never!" Her older brother yelled back.

Before anything else could be said, Ochumon broke free of his frozen imprisonment and lunged one of it's vines at MetalGarurumon. Luckily, the wolf-like Digimon was able to nimbly dodge it, avoiding any injuries. However, out of anger and frustration, Ochumon quickly turned to Birdramon and entangled her in it's tentacles, squeezing the life out of her. The bird shrieked in pain, causing Sora to, instinctively, to call out for her Digimon.

"_Birdramon!_" Tears formed in the corner of her eyes as she watched her Digimon partner get tortured.

"WarGreymon!" Tai ordered. "Help her!"

"_Terra Force!"_ The mighty Digimon threw a massive ball of bright yellow energy at Ochumon. The giant plant screeched in pain and let go of it's prey. Birdramon immediately de-digivolved back to Biyomon as she fell from the sky. As soon as the small pink bird hit the ground, Sora rushed over to aid her partner.

"Biyomon! Are you ok?! Say something!" The Digidestined of Love yelped in concern with tears dripping down. The Digimon didn't respond, being unconscious from the injuries she received. Tai watched from afar as his girlfriend cradled and took care of her hurt Digimon, causing him to grimace in apprehension and frustration.

"Tai! WarGreymon!" Izzy yelled.

The Digidestined reverted his attention to the battle and gasped at the sight: WarGreymon was finally caught and constricted by Ochumon's vines. He winced a little as he saw the vines squeeze, causing his Digimon to yell in pain. MegaKabuterimon was paralyzed completely due to earlier sprays of toxic and MetalGarurumon had his hands full, trying to avoid being put in the same situation as WarGreymon, agilely dodging the incoming whips.

Izzy shook his head as he closed his laptop. They were clearly losing the battle and it didn't look like there were many option left for them. Their mistiming, with everyone arriving at different times, and their lack of preparation and coordination ultimately was their downfall. It amazed the Digidestined of Knowledge how unfortunate everything turned out. He mentally slapped himself for not considering the possibilities of mishaps; he was the analyst and it was his job to foresee such events.

As he watched the battle ahead, he noticed something was wrong with the picture. He looked around his environment, checking all sides. The red haired boy felt that something was missing but couldn't exactly pinpoint what. After he looked at the empty sky, it hit him.

"Tai!" Izzy shouted. "Where's Daemon?"

* * *

"That's it; I'm going to go help." Davis stated firmly. "I can't watch this anymore." The younger Digidestined who were left behind had just witnessed Birdramon fall from the sky after being thrashed by Ochumon. Angemon managed to take them to the pond area of the park which wasn't too far from the open field, so the group could witness the battle from a distance. 

"But what about Kari?" Ken asked.

The spiky haired boy gave a concerned glance back at her. Kari looked away in shame; She hated how everything was revolving around her.

"It's ok; TK and Yolei are still here and Cody should be on his way, where ever he is."

"Do you really think TK and Yolei will be enough to stop Daemon?" Ken asked skeptically.

Davis pointed at the battle afar. "Do you really think that we're winning over there? Tai and the others need our help, whether he wants to admit it or not." This caused Ken to frown. "You and I can help them, Ken! You know that."

"Yeah…" The raven haired boy hesitated.

"And if anything goes bad here, we'll come back ASAP."

When it was clear that Ken was still unconvinced, Kari intervened. "It's ok Ken; Davis is right. My brother needs you out there." He gave her a long stare before sighing in defeat.

"Alright then."

Davis nodded. He turned to Veemon. "Alright, ready buddy?"

The blue dragon Digimon jumped up. "Born ready!"

Ken looked at Wormmon and signaled at him. Their two Digimons underwent multiple digivolutions together until they finally became Imperialdramon, the mighty, dragon-like, mega Digimon that had saved their lives countless times before.

Davis and Ken got on the back of their giant winged Digimon. "We'll be back as soon as we can." Ken affirmed.

"Yeah but not before kicking some Ochumon butt!" Davis enthused. "Let's go, Imperialdramon!" With that, both Ken and Davis with their combined Digimon flew off, leaving behind the others.

"You think they'll be ok?" Kari asked, concerned.

"If Davis' big head doesn't get in the way." Yolei mumbled.

"With Veemon and Wormmon gone, we need to be double alert of danger." Silphymon warned; Gatomon and Aquilamon DNA digivolved earlier for precautious reasons.

"Guys! Guys!"

Everyone turned around toward the direction of the yelling and spotted a running Cody and Armadillomon. Kari's face lit up at seeing the little boy and his Digimon.

"Cody!" She yelled back with joy.

"I'm sorry I'm late. I was at kendo practice and didn't hear my D-Terminal go off." The youngest Digidestined bowed in apology, causing Kari to chuckle; Cody was the most polite and respectful boy she had ever known, being way more mature than his age let on. It was a quality that made him unique and well-liked amongst everyone.

"What's been going on?" He asked.

"Well, Daemon's back and wants Kari to come with her. He summoned a nasty Digimon called Ochumon and the others are fighting him over there." Yolei pointed at the distant battlefield, summarizing the whole event.

"Daemon's back?" The little boy was confused. "I thought we banished him to…"

"The Dark Ocean? Well, somehow, he made his way back out."

Cody shook his head. "Then, we have to be extra careful. I remember this creep was really powerful."

TK shook his head in agreement. "Yeah. Gatomon and Hawkmon already digivolved together; I think Angemon and Ankylomon should DNA digivolve too just in case."

"Right." The green eyed boy turned to his digital companion. "Armadillomon. Ready?"

"_Armadillomon digivolve to…"_

"Not so fast." A voice boomed throughout the area. Then, out of nowhere, a narrow purple beam shot through Armadillomon, causing a massive explosion. It halted the small armadillo from digivolving and, furthermore, knocked him out unconscious. Daemon appeared before the Digidestined, a hint of a smirk in his eyes. "Now, now, Digidestined; play nice."

"Daemon!" Angemon growled. He instinctively stood in front of Kari and the others. The brunette felt a sudden fear overwhelm as she stood before the great evil Digimon. Cody broke free from the group, causing everyone to gasp in shock. The little boy ran past Daemon, who didn't take any particular notice, and made his way to his unconscious Digimon.

"Armadillomon! Are you ok?!" Kari heard Cody yell. She felt sympathetic for the younger child just hearing him in so much concern and pain.

"Hand over the child and let me be on my way." Daemon demanded.

"Over our dead body." Silphymon shot back.

A small smile formed in demon's eyes. "That can be arranged."

Silphymon turned to Angemon. "Take the kids to Tai and the others. I'll hold him off as long as I can." Kari heard the hybrid Digimon whisper to the angel. Angemon hesitated but nodded his head in reply. Before Kari could say anything or protest in any fashion, he swooped up TK, Yolei, and her into his arms and flew off, leaving Silphymon alone with Daemon.

"_No! Let me down! Silphymon can't fight that thing alone! Angemon, put me down!_" Yolei howled, kicking and fighting, trying to break free. "_Let me go back! TK! Tell your Digimon to take me back!_"

"I'm sorry, Yolei." The Champion Digimon replied, with remorse in his tone, as he continued his flight to safety. Kari looked back at the spot where they came from; a sense of guilt washed over her as she looked away in shame. She could tell tears were starting to form in corners of her eyes. All the chaos, the despair, the fighting, the pain was because of her. She began to wonder if it was even worth it anymore.

Something hit Angemon on the back, causing him to yell out in pain and freefall to the ground. Right before impact, though, the angel-like Digimon turned over on his back and cradled the Digidestined, so that the they would receive minimum harm from the fall. When the dust died down from the impact, he let the kids go and pointed at a direction.

"Go…Tai and the others aren't far away…" Angemon's entire body was shaking, as if struggling to even point.

"Angemon…"TK softly started.

His Digimon companion shook his head. "Go, TK. I'll be fine. Run to safety…" The blonde gave one final stare at his counterpart before grabbing onto both Kari and Yolei's hand and running off.

"Wait, what are you doing, TK?! You're just going to leave Angemon there, hurt and alone?!" The purple haired girl questioned in astonishment. The Digidestined of Hope didn't answer. "Well, I'M NOT!" With that, Yolei broke free of his grip and ran back toward Angemon. Kari was shocked at what just happened. TK halted and looked back but, after a short moment, to shock Kari even more, he continued to run, holding onto the brunette even tighter.

"TK! You're going to leave Yolei?! What if Daemon gets to her?!" She yelled in protest.

"Daemon's…not after…Yolei…after…_you_." He panted as they ran. Over yonder, Kari could see Tai, Sora, Davis, and Ken along with the giant Ochumon fighting WarGreymon, MetalGarurumon, Imperialdramon and MegaKabuterimon. Matt was on the opposite side of the open field from the rest of the gang.

TK and Kari weren't far away, closing in on their haven of safety and band of friends. But as they were almost at their destination, Daemon appeared, from the ground, in front of them, causing both of them to halt.

"As much as I enjoy a game of cat and mouse, I'm afraid my time is somewhat short." The ominous figure stated in his deep and hoarse voice. "Come with me, child; your destiny lies with me."

TK, while looking at their opponent, whispered inaudibly, "Don't listen to him." The brunette bit her lower lip in contemplation. While she was still fearful and afraid of both Daemon and the Dark Ocean, she began to wonder if going with the evil Digimon was actually the smarter choice to make. Everything that had happened so far was because of her refusal to be captured and, from the looks of it, it didn't seem like her friends had much of a chance in winning. If she surrendered, she might be able to negotiate a deal to protect her friends from any more harm. However, despite her inner thoughts of giving up, her body remained still, staying behind TK.

"No? Fine then. If you won't come voluntarily, I'll just subdue you and _take _you!" Daemon took a step forward.

As the demon-like Digimon inched himself closer, TK put an arm in front of the brunette. "Stand back, Kari." The Digidestined of Light looked up at her best friend and saw he had a face full of determination and resolve, causing her to be somewhat envious and in awe. None of their Digimon were around and all the other Digidestined were scattered or too occupied to aid them but yet, TK refused to show any signs of giving up. It was an uncanny trait that the blonde possessed: his ability to find hope in measures of complete despair. And while they both knew that none of them had any powers to stop Daemon's approach, he illuminated an aura of hope that, somehow, they would find a way to stop the Digimon. That aura comforted Kari.

A narrow purple beam shot through TK. It burned a hole into the young boy's chest, coming out of his back, shredding through his body like tissue. The blonde's eyes went big as his expression changed to that of utter shock. He staggered a little, slowly placing his hands over the wound. Unable to stand up, he fell backward, dropping to the ground like a dead body.

Kari witnessed everything, being next to him, completely stunned. Everything slowed down as she stood there, unable to comprehend what had just unfolded before her very eyes. She slowly turned her head and saw TK's motionless body sprawled over the grass. Her entire body went cold; the image scared her beyond any nightmare she could muster. She wanted to yell, to scream, to cry, to go delirious but all she could do was stare and whisper, "_TK…_"

She regained her composure and immediately went to her best friend's aid. Full of panic and breathing heavily, she kneeled next to his lifeless body and checked for a pulse; her stomach quenched as she prayed to God that that pulse was there. After a second, she felt a weak thump. She sighed in exhilaration as she closed her eyes in relief.

A shadow swept over Kari. She looked up to see Daemon standing before her, looking down at her and TK's body. She gulped as she stood up, facing him, only inches away from her enemy. Enough was enough.

"I-I give up." Kari stuttered, not out of fear but from the emotions that seemed to overwhelm her. "I surrender. Take me but please, leave my friends alone." She stated, hoping her plea would reach the demon Digimon.

Daemon gave a hard look at her with his chilly purple eyes. They pierced her soul as she shivered in fear. His eyes scared her but his response that followed scared her even more.

"Little girl." Daemon bellowed. "I never said I was after _you_."

With that, he slapped her away, throwing her aside like an insect. She hit the ground hard but immediately, she tried to regain her posture. Shaking off the impact, The Digidestined of Light struggled to get up. As she picked herself up, strange flashbacks started to flicker in her mind.

"_Hand over the child and let me be on my way." _Daemon's demand to Silphymon.

"_Come with me, child; your destiny lies with me." _Daemon's statement to both TK and Kari just earlier.

"_We don't know what the Dark Ocean's plot is, but we are almost positive that she is the centerpiece of this whole dilemma."_Azulongmon's warning to the Digidestined.

"_That is why the Childs of Hope and Light have been susceptible targets by many of your opponents." _Azulongmon's explanation concerning TK and her.

For some reason, each of those flashbacks bothered her; something felt wrong or uncertain in each scenario, as if a shroud of mystery pertained to each event. She focused her mind, trying to pinpoint exactly what bothered her.

"_Hand over the child…"_

"_Come with me, _child_…"_

"_We don't know what the Dark Ocean's plot is, but we are _almost_ positive that she is the centerpiece of this whole dilemma." _

It hit her. It hit her as hard as Daemon had slapped her away. The demon Digimon never actually stated he was after her, always referring to who he wanted as "the child." And while Azulongmon stated he was pretty certain he knew who the Dark Ocean was after, the mighty Digimon wasn't completely positive of it. If the target wasn't her, then it could only be…

"_That is why the Childs of Hope and Light have been susceptible targets by many of your opponents." _

"_Childs of Hope and Light…" _

"_Childs of _Hope_ and Light…" _

Kari looked up to see Daemon throw TK's lifeless body onto his shoulder.

"_TK!!!"_ She yelled at the top of her lungs, getting the attention of Tai, Sora, Davis, Ken, and Matt. Matt saw Daemon with TK and immediately his face went pale.

The evil Digimon floated into the air. "Well, Digidestined, it was fun playing with you all but, now that I have what I wanted, it's time for me to leave."

"METALGARURUMON!!! GET DAEMON!" The Digidestined of Friendship barked out.

"You too WarGreymon!" Tai ordered. WarGreymon, who was still entangled by the vines of Ochumon, with the last ounce of strength, turned into a giant tornado, freeing himself from the vines and, ultimately ripping apart the plant like Digimon, turning it into dust. Without taking a break, the dragon-warrior Digimon charged at Daemon. MetalGarurumon followed, rushing as fast as he could.

"Don't worry, Digidestined; we'll meet again." Daemon started to faze away with TK straddled on his shoulder.

"NO! DON'T YOU DARE TAKE TK! I WLL HUNT YOU DOWN AND KILL YOU IF YOU SO MUCH AS LAY A FINGER ON HIM!" Kari heard Matt howl.

But right as WarGreymon and MetalGarurumon reached Daemon, the demon disappeared, leaving the two mega Digimon colliding into each other.

A moment of silence passed. Kari, still on the ground, stared in disbelief at what just occurred. No one spoke. The brunette looked over at Matt; he was pale as his lower lip trembled. The Digidestined of Friendship fell to his knees, eyes open, staring at the spot where Daemon was just a moment before. The silence continued.

"_TKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK!!!"_

* * *

…I'm not going to say anything. Only that I changed the title to chapter 3 because I didn't really like it. Read and Review! 


	6. Chapter 6: Aftermath

WOW. FINALLY AN UPDATE. It's been a while. I'm SO sorry for the wait. It's been…hard for me to update this story (more on that later). But it's here and I hope you all enjoy it! I know I left the story in a cliffhanger suspense but, as time goes on, everything will clear itself. I was asked how long the story would be and, if everything goes according to plan, (that means no changes to the plot), then I would have to say about 10 to 12 chapters long? That's my rough goal. Could be more. I hope it's not less. Well enjoy!

**Chapter 6**

Kari simply sat. Mindless and numb, the young girl paid no attention to her surroundings, whether it be the teacher who was explaining a math problem in front of her or the students that sat around her, taking notes for the exam they had the next day. The brunette looked at her notebook; nothing was written on it. She sighed quietly at the futility of her presence in class. She might as well not have gone to school at all with the amount of progress she was making. No matter how hard she tried, Kari couldn't pay attention. She often found herself zoning out everything around her as her mind wandered about things irrelevant to school.

It had been two weeks since the fateful day TK had been kidnapped by Daemon. Two weeks of frantic searching and desperation. Two weeks of crushing hopes and impeding despair. The dark cloud that hovered over them just seemed to get bigger with every passing day. Kari and the others tried their best to comfort each other and endure the struggle as a group but it seemed that the longer the suspense held, the more it tore up the unity of their friendship.

The brunette looked around the classroom; everyone was paying full attention to the board as the teacher wrote some problems down. She paid particular notice to the right of her and saw an empty desk right next to her. TK's desk. Everyone in school thought TK was just extremely sick, unaware and oblivious to the truth. It amazed her how easily people were willing to believe the fabricated story. TK being sick for two weeks sounded absurd to her but when it was announced, no one questioned the excuse. No one ever wondered how someone could be sick for two weeks or as to how abruptly it happened. Either uncaring or naïve, for whatever reason, everyone went about their normal lives without a second thought.

The Digidestined of Light fidgeted her fingers. Nothing seemed to be the same without the young blonde. Kari turned to the window and stared, letting her mind wander once again. Indeed, the past two weeks without him had been extremely hard on everyone. Especially Matt…

* * *

_Davis was thrown back, falling down to the ground, rear first. He had a bright red mark on his right cheek as well as an extremely shocked face. He slowly rubbed the mark, as if not believing it was there. _

"_How can you be so irresponsible??!! All you had to do is listen to our instructions!!! How could you even THINK of leaving behind TK like that, you selfish arrogant brat??!!" Matt barked viciously as Tai, Ken, and Gabumon attempted to hold him back from punching the younger Digidestined again._

"_MATT!!! STOP IT!!!" Sora yelled back as she rushed over and cradled the hurt Davis in her arms._

"_Don't tell me to stop!!! If it wasn't for this idiot, TK would still be here right now!!!" The blonde responded angrily._

"_You don't know that!" The Digidestined of Love shot back._

"_Matt," Tai grunted as he attempted to hold back his best friend. "You need to calm down."_

"_Calm down? Shut up, Tai. If Kari was the one who was captured, you would be ten times worse than I am right now!"_

_The leader of the Digidestined let go of his friend. "Oh yeah? I wouldn't have PUNCHED one of our fellow members and blame everyone around me for the incident! I would man it up and accept the facts myself!"_

"_Sure you would." Matt smirked._

"_Don't worry, Matt. I'm sure we'll find TK." Izzy tried to reassure his friend._

"_When, Izzy? Can you promise me that?" When he heard no response, the blonde continued. "IT'S BEEN THREE DAYS. TK's been gone for THREE DAYS. Kidnapped, tortured, injured, dead…I don't know! For all we know, he could be DEAD right now. What am I suppose to tell my parents? How am I going to explain everything to them?!"_

"_We're all trying our best to find a way…" DemiVeemon started._

"_Well, you're best isn't good enough!" Matt sharply shot._

"_If you're so protective of TK, where were you when he was captured, huh? Were you looking out for him then? If anything, this is YOUR fault and just shows your failure as a brother!" Tai barked._

_The room became quiet. Kari nervously looked around; no one was in a good mood. An air of despair filled the room as everyone looked sullen and depressed, not only at the fact of losing TK, but also at how much damage it was causing to the group._

_Matt gave Tai a hard stare. Kari could see the Digidestined of Friendship's lower lip tremble. Without a sound, the blonde turned around and left the room, slamming the door behind him._

_The brunette took a moment for everything to register. She saw Cody in the corner, head down, slouching in depression. Ever since the incident, the poor little boy continued to blame himself for his failure to be there for TK. He felt, because he left the group to tend to Armadillomon's wounds, he had neglected his duties and allowed his DNA Digivolution partner to get captured. In a sense, he felt he had let everyone down even though no one, not even Matt, was blaming him. _

_Yolei was right beside him, with a scared look on her face, squeezing the life out of Poromon inadvertently. Kari imagined the whole fighting scene probably shocked her; Yolei never witnessed the Digidestined truly bicker amongst one another and saw that their unity wasn't as strong as they perceived. Of course, the brunette would have been shocked as well if not for the fact she had seen this strain in their friendship before, when the original Digidestined were fighting the Dark Masters. Back then, the group had split up an gone their own paths due to different reasons, leading to a time period where the brunette, at one point, felt their friendship was unsalvageable. Unfortunately, she felt that same feeling again as Matt stormed out of the room._

_Sora pushed her way past everyone. "Tai, you're such a jerk." She scolded as she too left the room, chasing after Matt. Biyomon and Gabumon followed her._

"_What? What did I do? It's about time he grew up and stopped blaming everyone else for what happened!" Tai defended himself out loud._

"_You might have been a little too harsh on him…" Ken quietly added._

_The leader threw a disgusted look. "Ah, He's not a little child, for God's sake. He's an adult and he should start acting like one."_

"_But you have to understand his situation." Ken continued. "He just lost his younger brother. I'm sure if anyone lost anyone dear to them, they would panic and be saddened just as badly as Matt is."_

"_So it's my fault?" Tai had an incredulous expression. "I just protected Davis from being clobbered by Matt and it's my fault?"_

"_No, Matt shouldn't have punched Davis. But, at the same time, calling him a bad brother wasn't very mature yourself." _

_Kari could hear the edge in Ken's voice as he answered her brother. It was obvious he was getting agitated with the conversation. Luckily, Izzy budded in._

"_All Ken is trying to say, Tai, is that maybe you were a little too hard on Matt." The red haired boy added._

_The Digidestined of Courage looked around at everyone in the room with a bewildered stare. "If he's going to keep blaming everyone else for this, then it's about time he started sharing the blame as well! I mean, he acts like we KNEW TK was the target and just let it happen! If we had known TK was who they were after, we would've made sure he was protected and secured! But Matt--"_

"_STOP FIGHTING!" Everyone became quiet and turned their heads to a shaking Yolei._

"_YOU GUYS NEED TO STOP FIGHTING! Can't you see what it's doing to the group?" The purple haired girl pleaded. "Sora, Matt, Gabumon, and Biyomon left while Ken and Tai are bickering amongst each other like enemies! You guys are breaking us apart! I mean, it's already bad enough that we're all scared to death for TK's sake but if you guys are fighting as well…some of us are really scared here and you guys aren't making it better!" Tears were forming in the corner of her eyes. _

"_Yolei…"_

_The young girl shook her head as she continued to hold onto her Digimon. "No. I can't take it anymore." She started walking toward the door. As she pasted by Kari, the brunette heard her mumble, "It's too much…" The Digidestined of Light immediately was overwhelmed with sympathy._

_Yolei made her way to the door and stopped. "I can't do this anymore. It's too much." She looked at rest of the members of Digidestined. "We're only teenagers; we shouldn't have to go through this." With that, she left. _

_Everyone was silent. Kari sighed out of fatigue; it seemed everything was falling apart. _

_Gatomon left Kari's lap and stood up. "The most important thing right now is to be there for one another during times like these; not push each other away."_

_Izzy nodded. "Gatomon's right. We can't lose our poise. That's exactly what Daemon wants us to do."_

_Everyone in the room became quiet again. Davis, who was still sitting on the floor from the punch earlier, got up slowly. _

"_I'm sorry, Tai." he said quietly._

_The older Digidestined shook his head. "It's not your fault. I would've done the same thing in your shoes." He reverted his attention to the rest of the group. "Izzy's right. We have to stay together and keep our hopes up; TK out there and we'll find him."_

_Kari sighed heavily. Despite her brother's words, the brunette didn't feel very hopeful of the situation. She glanced over at where Patamon was and immediately felt pity; the poor Digimon looked terrible. Devastated and distraught at the loss of his partner, Patamon shouldered much of the burden as his own, believing that he had failed TK as a Digimon partner by not protecting him and being there for the blonde when he needed the Digimon most. Even though everyone around him tried to convince the winged beast that he was not to blame and that he did all he could do, Patamon continued to get caught up in his depression._

"_We have to find out what Daemon wants with TK. Obviously, there was a huge misunderstanding; Azulongmon told us the Dark Ocean was after Kari. I think it's imperative we find out how this could have happened." Izzy continued with his rationality._

"_And the connection between Daemon and the Dark Ocean." _

_Everyone turned to Cody who had spoken up. He was looking at the floor, eyes filled with regret and sorrow. When he noticed everyone was staring at him, he shrugged._

"_Well, I'm curious as to how Daemon and the Dark Ocean are related. I mean, I understand we banished him to that realm but since when did Daemon work for the Dark Ocean? Is he the master of that area now? Or has he always been under it's influence? There are so many questions." _

"_Cody's right. And the only way we'll get answers is if we talk to Gennai and Azulongmon." Tentomon spoke up._

_Tai nodded his head. "Agreed. Then, we head to the Digital World ASAP. Hopefully, we can get the rest of the gang to come along…"_

* * *

Kari simply walked. She strolled down the sidewalk, leading to her apartment, as she would any other school day. The only difference was that she was walking alone; normally, when she was out of school, she and her best friend would wander together, talking and joking with each other over small things about school or their friends. The loneliness was a chilling presence; a constant reminder of the sadness that surrounded her.

Snow was on the ground, a clear indication that winter had finally arrived. The temperature around her was freezing cold and was even worse for the young girl because of her school uniform that failed to keep her warm. But despite this, Kari felt nothing, even as she watched her own breath form small puffs of mist. Strangely, her body reacted to the chilly weather normally, shivering and sniffling constantly, but her mind was unaffected, as if it was unable to register the environment around her. She was at a peace of mind, a trance of some sort, with her body mindlessly doing it's bodily functions. She felt nothing but, at the same time, she felt everything.

It was midday but the Digidestined of Light couldn't really tell. It was a gloomy day, with no sunlight at all and the essence of gray filled the surroundings. Trees that once had life and color in them were now covered in snow and dead, with all the leafs plucking away to the ground. There was no sign of nature to be seen, with all the animals obscured due to the seasonal change. In any other circumstance, Kari would have found the weather somewhat depressing but instead, she embraced it. For her, the lack of life and movement was quiet and peaceful, an essence that was a representation of how she felt inside. As she walked, she noticed she was on the outskirts of Odaiba park, the grounds where the tragic events occurred. She had been walking so aimlessly that she had wandered off away from the direction of her house. She gave a long stare at the woods to her side and stopped in her tracks.

Ever since the incident, Kari refused to return to her former favorite area of Odaiba, fearing of old memories to overwhelm her. However, she felt compelled by the park, almost as if a calling was reaching out to her to enter the public grounds. She hesitated, but after careful thought, the brunette slowly made her way into the woods. As she steadily paced her way through the dead trees, goose bumps started to form all over her body; not from the chilly weather but from the recollection of the events that had occurred. The woods ended as she found herself on the outskirts of the open field. She paused for a moment, taking a look around her.

Odaiba park was a place of solitude and peace during the winter season. No one would think about going to the park at such chilly temperatures but for Kari and TK, it was one of the favorite places to hang out at together. Every winter, the two would go to the empty public ground routinely and bond. They would grow closer to each other, often discussing issues about school, friends, and personal problems or simply play around in a teasing manner, playing childish games, throwing snowballs, and making snowmen with one another. Sometimes, they didn't do anything; the two friends would just walk around, enjoying the serenity of the environment, enjoying each other's presence. Whatever they did, for Kari, it was always a joy to spend quality time with her best friend. Often times, it wasn't uncommon for her to spend hours at the playground, taking up entire days just idly being around TK. For the brunette, the previous winters were all memories she held and cherished dearly.

It started to snow lightly. Kari reached out her arm and opened her hand as the small, white, ice drops fell from the sky. She watched as one of the snowflakes landed on the top of her index finger. The brunette brought the finger closer to her face, almost in an examining fashion, and smiled. She brushed some of her stranding hair away from her eyes as she let her mind wander off into deep reminiscence…

* * *

"_Do you care for me?"_

_TK gave a surprised look. "What?"_

_Kari smiled sweetly at her best friend. The two Digidestined were sitting down, in the park's swings, gently rocking themselves back and forth as they talked and admired the quietness and beauty of the park around them. They had spend almost the whole evening at the secluded public grounds, chatting with each other, keeping one another amused and comfortable. The day was slowly passing away as the already somewhat gloomy day started to darken around them. _

_\"Hm? Do you care for me?" Kari repeated her question. It was a random question to ask and she knew it would throw the blonde off but, despite this, it was an acceptable question to ask between the two of them; the young girl knew that they were close enough to not make it an awkward situation. If it were any other guy, the brunette wouldn't even dare think of such thoughts._

"_Yeah. Of course." TK answered._

"_How much?"_

"_Eh?" The Digidestined of Hope was, again, thrown off by the question._

_Kari giggled at her best friend's innocent reaction. "Come on TK; we're in 8th grade now. How long have we known each other? Six years? I'm just curious as to how close we REALLY are." She gave a mischievous look at the blonde. " So, how much do you care about me?"_

"_Geez, Kari; you and your random questions." The Digidestined of Hope got off the swing and stood up. He scratched the top of his head, causing his hat to shift positions. "I don't know how to answer that one…"_

"_Wow, TK. Thanks for making me feel special…" The brunette mumbled playfully._

_TK laughed. "It's not like that. Kind of a surprising question." _

_Kari noticed it was snowing lightly. Luckily, she was wearing a light pink, fleece jacket with a thick winter coat over it. On top of that, she had a pink scarf wrapped tightly around her neck. _

_TK also noticed the change of weather around him. It was light snow but enough to see the tiny particles of ice idly falling down from the skies. The blonde looked up at the sky for a moment and gave a goofy grin, reverting his attention back to his best friend. _

"_I care about you as much as the snowflakes falling around us."_

_Kari frowned. "Snowflakes aren't very big."_

"_True. They're not very big in the beginning. But as time passes, the tiny snowflakes keep coming and start to build up until eventually," The blonde pointed at the fallen snow on the ground. "there isn't a place you go without being overwhelmed by it."_

_The brunette shook her head and giggled lightly at her friend's cheesy comment. "You're so bad at this."_

_TK shrugged his shoulders as he smiled. "At least I try."_

_Kari got up from the swing seat and made her way to the blonde. "You do, you do." She returned the smile back. "So, aren't you going to ask me the same question?"_

"_Nah. I already know you care about me a lot."_

_The Digidestined of Light laughed out loud. "Someone's a little cocky."_

"_Nah. I'm not being cocky. It's just…our friendship is so strong and I feel so comfortable with it that I can say something like that confidently and not feel like an idiot. You…give me the courage to be bold about certain things. I can put myself out there, make myself look like a fool, without feeling insecure and paranoid. THAT'S how much I care about you." _

_Kari gave a caring smile as she slightly blushed. "Oh TK…" Then, she teasingly poked at the blonde's side. "No wonder all the girls at school are all over you! You probably smooth talk them too."_

"_Wow! I can't believe you would think that." Her best friend exclaimed in a falsely hurt tone._

_Both of them ended up bursting in laughter at their own childish manners. As the hilarity died down, Kari noticed that the snow was falling faster. _

"_We should get going; looks like it's going to snow hard tonight." She commented._

_TK shook his head in agreement while looking around. "Yeah…we should." _

_Before the blonde could move to start walking, Kari grabbed onto his arm, halting him. "Wait." She got in front of the young boy and smiled. She raised her pinky finger. "Let's make a promise."_

"_What kind of promise?"_

_"Promise that, no matter what, we'll always care for each other and be there for each other."_

_TK threw an amused look at her. "You afraid that I'll ditch you one day?"_

"_With all the girls in your life, it's a reasonable thought." The brunette joked back, causing the Digidestined of Hope to chuckle as he shook his head in playful disbelief._

"_Fine." He raised his pinky finger and intertwined his with hers, sealing the promise between the two friends. "If it makes you feel better."_

_Kari smiled. "Best friends?"_

_TK smiled back. "Best friends."_

* * *

Kari simply stared. It had been a year since that winter and the promise but, for some reason, it felt like yesterday for her. The vividness and clarity of the moment ran through her mind, bringing back the cherished memory between her and her best friend. She was happy and joyous back then; the more she reflected on her life, the more she realized that she was happy most of the time anyways. She held so many wonderful moments and cherished thoughts with her, it was hard for her to even recollect the bad and struggling times in her life.

She had been spoiled. Spoiled by the little bubble of happiness that had engulfed her for years. Spoiled by the peace and well-being of always knowing that, no matter what happened, she always had a constant positive force in her life. Spoiled by the kindness and sweet-heartedness that seemed to be offered to her everyday, as if those quality were a given in life. Spoiled by TK.

TK made her happy. He always found a way to make her smile or laugh, despite her mood or the mood of others. He gave her unbelievable attention, being there for her at any time, listening, caring, and making her feel special when, in reality, she probably didn't deserve any of it. He made life easier for her by supporting her regardless of the situation. He protected her and her feelings, often times sharing the blows of the negativity that the world threw at her, willing to stand by her and suffer, if it meant she suffered less. He was her best friend and yet, he wasn't; TK was _more_than her best friend. He was her aspiration, her ray of hope, her safeguard from the real world. He was her guiding hand, her single voice that would lead her to a better place, her source of pleasure and laughter, even at times of great hardship. He _was _her happiness.

The brunette continued to stare at the pristine, white ground, noticing something in the pile of snow. She bent over to pick up an object off the snowy fields. She brushed off much of the snow as it was wrinkled, dirtied, and drenched from being outdoors for so long, especially in the snow. TK's hat.

She brought the hat closer to her face, inspecting it as if looking for damages. She brought it close to her chest and hugged it, whispering, "TK…"

Old memories flashed before her eyes; memories of TK and what the young boy and girl had cherished together. Good times, funny moments, sad times, and even hard moments. All of which, the young brunette wouldn't give up for anything. Even if it was a solemn remainder of what was now missing in her life or how dependent she was of TK. Even if it continued to haunt her with the knowledge that he needed her now and she couldn't help or assist in anyway. Or, even worse that, it should've been her instead of him. She lived with those thoughts and found herself carrying them around as if it was her burden, her punishment, for living life so freely and so naively.

And, with that, Kari simply cried.

* * *

Man…Do I have the biggest writer's block or what? I'm really really REALLY sorry for the late update…I'm having one of the biggest writer's block right now. Like, I sit in front of the computer, ready to type but nothing comes up in my head. Or if something does come up, I either can't put it in words or I make it too complicated or simply put, I don't like it. Man…I apologize. This chapter has gone through SO many revisions, it's not even funny. I was actually done with this chapter late DECEMBER but…I don't know what happened. Even as I finished this chapter, I'm still blanking out about the next chapters. Bear with me, readers; I'm sure it'll pass. Again, I apologize and thank you for being so patient. Also, thank you for the kind reviews. Your reviews inspire me to finish this story. Thanks. 


	7. Chapter 7: Strong Resolve

Well, the latest chapter to my story! I really hope you guys like it; this one took a bit more time than the others. I had midterms and papers due earlier, which kind of played a role in the delayed update. Hopefully, I can speed things up again. I'm actually very content with the pace and flow of the story; I don't feel I'm rushing anything and I don't feel I'm too slow about certain things. It seems pretty good right now. Thank you, loyal fans of this story, for continuing to read and I hope I can continue to deliver to satisfy your imagination's desires. Have a good read!

**Chapter 7**

_Waves. The sound of waves crashing along the shore echoed throughout the forsaken beach, exemplifying the unnatural quietness and emptiness of the surroundings. No sunlight radiated anywhere along the shore as deep, huge, clouds covered the sky, causing everything to be in the shade of grey, bland and depressing. There seemed to be no life on the beach. Occasional trees grew around the coast but, for some reason, they had an eerie aura about them; they were a sense of life and yet, looked and acted as if death had crept up and snatched their essence away from them. _

_Past the couple trees, a small, run-down, shack could be spotted from the distance. The shack was indefinitely abandoned and, like the trees, had a deathly vibe emitting from it. Further past the shack, there was a lighthouse on a cliff. The lighthouse gave out light, as a typical lighthouse would on a bland day, but the rays were not shining light throughout the beach; the beam of light was instead a ray of darkness. _

_Kari knew where she was. She gave a quick scan around her as if double checking to see if she was where she thought she was. She had been in the area before, twice to be exact, and dreaded the place ever since. The Dark Ocean was not her favorite vacation spot. _

_The brunette took a step forward slowly, letting the sand around her bare feet to soak in. Chills ran up her spine. She looked directly at the body of water in front of her and, as she expected, saw the ocean stretch endlessly over the horizon. Peace and tranquility filled the coast; however, it was undesirable and unsettling. The mood did not relax Kari, as it normally would, but instead filled her with dread and darkness._

_The Digidestined of Light shook her head. She had no idea how she had ended up on the desolated seashore. To make matters worse, she didn't see Gatomon anywhere and her Digivice wasn't equipped on her. She was alone. Alone and defenseless in the mellow dimension that had haunted her since her last visit. _

_A breeze blew by, causing the young girl to shiver. Again, she scanned the area, hoping that someone, anyone, was around so that she was not alone. But, like before, she was simply greeted with silence, unable to detect life anywhere. The brunette let out a small sigh of disappointment. Then, she took a moment and pondered about her next actions, what she should do now realizing her loneliness. With careful thought and consideration, she decided it was best for her to explore the beachfront and hope to find someone or something that can help her._

_With that, Kari started walking along the shores of the Dark Ocean. The waves gently crashed along the shore routinely, slowly creeping closer to the feet of the young girl. Instinctively, she pulled farther away from the shoreline, avoiding getting her feet in the water. It wasn't because she didn't want her feet to get wet; she was afraid. Afraid of the water that comprised the Dark Ocean. Kari held onto the fear that, somehow, the ocean itself was a source of darkness and touching it would be detrimental to her._

_As she strolled, Kari was on constant alert for any kind of danger or threat around her. The Dark Ocean was, after all, a dimension filled with evil so it was natural to assume that dark entities dwelled within it. But, at the same time, she was hoping to find, perhaps, a fellow Digidestined or some kind of assistance so that she wouldn't feel lonely and somewhat scared. She wished TK was around…_

_Kari desperately wanted to call out for someone, anyone, but was afraid that, by doing so, she would attract unwanted attention from possible inhabitants of the area. The brunette had forgotten how eerie the Dark Ocean was. It's blandness and absolute tranquility was unnerving and, almost, unreal, causing her to shiver every once in a while. She couldn't imagine how anything could survive in such a dimension. Insanity and depression seemed like the only result for living in such a place._

_The Digidestined of Light stopped walking. The shore seemed to go on forever and the young girl was scared that if she kept wandering, she would find herself walking down the coast endlessly. The sound of the waves crashing against the sandy land continued to echo as she brushed some of her hair out of her face and looked around once again, hoping to find something that could assist her at the moment. Again, she was greeted with the all too familiar sense of disappointment. _

_Kari noticed something in the corner of her eye and reverted her attention to the body of water on her left; a distant figure stood alone in the ocean, water reaching waist high. The individual was too far away for the brunette to properly see and the back of the unknown person was facing her, obscuring her view even more. _

"_Hey! Hey!" The Digidestined yelled, cupping her hands around her mouth. No response; the lone figure acted as if not hearing._

"_Hey! Are you stuck here too???" Kari tried once more, ending with the same result as before. She bit her lower lip as she carefully thought about the situation. She couldn't tell if the individual in the water was friendly or not but, at the same time, it was the first sign of life in the Dark Ocean and Kari had a feeling that if she continued to walk down the shore, she would not find anyone else._

_The young girl looked around once more. She sighed, realizing she had really no other option than to try and communicate with her first sign of life. Taking a deep breathe, Kari gathered some courage and took a step into the chilling grey water._

* * *

Tai Kamiya sat in his chair, sulking a little bit, as he finished sipping the green tea his mother made for him.

"So…That's it?" Joe Kido, who sat in a chair right across from the leader of the Digidestined, asked. He too had a mug of green tea in his hand. The older Digidestined was wearing a thick winter coat and had plenty of clothes bundled underneath due to the harshly cold weather outside. With glasses on, and a clean, short haircut, similar to the hairstyle he sported back during their first adventure in the Digital World, The Digidestined of Reliability looked extremely sharp and mature.

"Yeah. That's it." Tai sighed. "Matt left, Sora went after him, Yolei left…I think I said everything."

"I see." The eighteen year old boy nodded his head in thoughtfulness. "Wow. Everything seems pretty messed up right now."

The Digidestined of Courage groaned. "You don't even know. Everyday seems to get worse and worse. And to top it off, Izzy hasn't been able to get a hold of Gennai or Azulongmon so we're pretty much left in the dark."

"Well, think of the bright side, Tai." Gomamon chirped. He took a moment to think but had no follow-up for his sentence. After a while, he scratched his head. "Hmph. There really is no bright side this time."

Joe nodded his head in agreement with his Digimon. "Yeah. And you guys haven't been able to find TK?"

"No. It's been almost three weeks." Tai rubbed his forehand with his hand out of frustration. "Everyone is really worried."

"Of course." A brief silence swept the room. "How's Kari taking it?"

"She's…alright. I actually don't know. She's been keeping to herself a lot since it happened. But, knowing her, I'm willing to bet she's blaming herself for everything. And knowing how close she was to TK, I'm also willing to bet she's pretty shaken up by it."

"I can't believe Gennai _and _Azulongmon were both wrong about everything. It doesn't seem like them. I mean, Gennai was the one person we turned to every time we had questions and he was always right in the past. He was always the one who had explanations about everything and we believed him every time. It's kind of hard to believe that he suddenly…was mistaken." Joe commented.

"Yeah. You should've been there, Joe. Both Azulongmon and Gennai seemed pretty sure that Kari was the target." Agumon added.

"But, I mean, I don't think we should blame them for this. No one's right all the time." Gomamon objected.

"I'm not saying we should blame them. It's just…shocking. I guess it hasn't occurred to me that Gennai was capable of fallacies; he was never wrong before." The Digidestined of Reliability stated.

A silence followed. The only thing audible was the soft running noise of Tai's computer. Joe cleared his throat as he fiddled his fingers around the warm cup of tea in his hands.

"Tai," The thriving medical student started. "I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner."

The Digidestined of Courage waved off his apology. "Don't even, Joe. It's not your fault at all. Besides, even if you were here, I doubt anything would've been different. I don't think anyone could have helped us at the time."

"Yeah but still…"

"No." Tai interrupted. "Too many people are blaming themselves for what happened as it is; we don't need to add one more."

Joe gave a small smile at the younger boy and nodded his head in agreement.

"So, what have you been up to? Kyoto fun?" The leader of the Digidestined asked, hoping to change the subject to a lighter conversation.

"It's not bad. Medical school is pretty competitive so I haven't really been able to go out much. I had a couple midterms so I've been keeping myself busy by studying."

"Busy? More like taking over your life." Gomamon added. "He's been so into his studies, he sometimes forgets to eat! Doesn't sleep much, hardly goes out… I don't know how he's still alive. Sometimes, I feel like his mother, telling him to do things all the time."

Tai laughed. "Sounds like Joe. And yet you're still able to make time to visit us."

"Well, I said I would come." The older Digidestined shrugged.

"Good old reliable Joe." Agumon quipped. "Oh, which reminds me, did you know Mimi and Palmon are here too?"

Joe nodded. "Of course. I actually had lunch with her yesterday. She hasn't changed a bit." He finished with a chuckle. But soon after, his face turned serious. "She's really upset and worried about what happened. Almost in tears when we talked about TK."

"Yeah…" Tai ran his hands through his hair. Realizing the mood he had set by bringing up the depressing topic, The older male quickly tried to change the subject.

"So…How's everything with Sora?"

Tai's face sulked even more. "It's ok."

Seeing the reaction he got, Joe immediately regretted asking. "Just ok?"

"Yeah…well, I don't know…" The Digidestined of Courage looked up at his friend. "Let me ask you something, Joe."

"Go for it."

"How come you and Mimi never got together?" Joe gave a surprised look at Tai. "Well, I mean, a lot of us thought you two would end up together. You guys had everything working out; you two were really close, both talked really well, and you even admitted you liked her, right? So, how come it never happened?"

The Digidestined of Reliability took a moment before shrugging nonchalantly. "I'm not exactly sure." Realizing that that wasn't the response his younger friend was seeking, he continued, "You're right; Mimi and I are really close. We trust each other and talk a lot. I did have feelings for her and, I think, it was same for her. But…sometimes, that's not enough."

Joe pushed his glasses upward. "She and I actually talked about it one time; us getting together. But, the thing is, there was no…_click_. There was no special feeling or trigger that compelled me to go out with her."

"But you and her have everything a couple needs! You guys talk well with each other, trust each other, attracted to each other…what more can you want?"

"Right, right. I do trust her; talk to her very well, and think she is very pretty. But, that's not everything, if anything. Having that special connection is the most important part between a couple."

"But you guys have a special connection."

"A special connection _between friends._ I guess…she and I are so comfortable being close friends with each other that that's the only way we see each other as; as friends. I guess, in my experience, with some people, you're meant to be just friends." Joe scratched his head. "Am I making any sense to you? Because I lost myself somewhere in that explanation."

Tai laughed. "No…I think I understand."

"That's good because, if I had to elaborate more on that…" Joe didn't finish the sentence but simply smiled. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason." The Digidestined of Courage chuckled later. "I never thought I would have asked you for girl help."

"Joe gets ladies!" Gomamon protested in defense of his partner. "You should see him at Kyoto!"

"Gomamon, there's no reason to lie." Joe chuckled. "But hey, I'm here for anything."

Tai nodded. "Yes you are. Good old reliable Joe."

With that, the two Digidestined, along with their Digimon, started to converse and talk, catching up with one another, laughing at past memories, enjoying and relishing their moment of happiness, hoping to forget about the grief and sadness that had seemed to dominate their current lives. And, for a moment, they almost did.

* * *

Cody speedily walked down the icy sidewalk, ignoring everything around him; he was going to be late for kendo practice and he knew it. Being a boy who valued punctuality, he felt a sense of guilt wash over him for his eventual lateness. The young Digidestined hated how his duties and responsibilities recently seemed to be overwhelming him; he was barely finding time to study, was developing a trend in being late to kendo practice, was neglecting to finish his daily chores, and, the worse of all, was failing as a friend. Everything seemed to be crashing down on him, casting their tolls on him, especially with the kidnap of TK. And while Cody vigorously tried to maintain his lifestyle, he could see the cracks and falters in his efforts.

TK's disappearance shook the foundation of Cody's inner core. The events that occurred that day, the day of the blonde's capture, seemed to repeat over and over again in the young boy's mind, as if haunting him, mocking him, for his inability to prevent such tragedy from occurring. It wasn't that the boy felt like he could've changed the results; he simply felt that he didn't do _anything._ He wasn't involved at all, didn't help or assist or make an impact for TK. If anything, he was nothing more than a waste of space and an unreliability for his friends. He wished, more than anything, that he had done something, anything, to at least make himself feel he had attempted a contribution. The constant mental replay of that day made him feel…useless.

Cody felt a sudden wave of inner fatigue hit him as he continued to walk down the sidewalk. He rubbed his eye and shook his head, attempting to break free of the weariness. Indeed, due to his hectic life, the Digidestined had been unable to sleep properly or eat consistently, leaving his body somewhat drained and his mind scrambled. But despite the exhaustion, he had to find a way to move on with his duties, knowing that the world would not stop for him. Still, he could imagine what a good nap could do for him…

Being so caught up with his own life, Cody hadn't really been able to keep in touch with his fellow Digidestined. And while the young boy knew he should, with the recent schism within the group and tragic events swirling around them, he simply couldn't find time. Again, another wave of guilt hit Cody. It was clear that the bond of friendship between the Digidestined was deteriorating and he knew he should do something about it. But, like before, he wasn't. Like before, he was making no impact. No difference. Useless.

As Cody turned a corner, he noticed something in the corner of his eye. He saw Davis and his goggle head, sitting alone on a bench across the street. He was wearing only his school uniform which, in such a chilly weather, was insane and impossible to be warm in. The spiky haired boy was slouching and, from the look on his face, was zoning out and being pensive, oblivious to the surroundings around him.

Cody hesitated when spotting his older friend. It was clear that, as a friend, he should at least walk over and say hi to Davis. However, he was already late for kendo practice and he wasn't sure exactly what to say other then greet him. He had a feeling awkwardness would build between the two. The young boy sighed as he shifted his kendo gear around his shoulder and made his way to the other Digidestined.

"Hi Davis." He greeted as he got within a good distance to his friend. Davis looked surprised to see him.

"Oh, hi Cody."

"What are you up to?"

"Nothing…I was just thinking."

The younger boy knew something was wrong; Davis wasn't the type to sit down and think. "Oh? About what? And shouldn't you be inside or something? You'll catch a cold out here in your clothes."

"Huh?" The goggle head boy looked down at his body. "Oh, right. I guess I didn't really notice." Still, despite that, the boy made no effort to move from his seat.

"So…what's up? What are you thinking about?"

There was no response. After a moment of silence, Cody realized uneasiness filled the air. He shuffled his feet as he cleared his throat. "It's fine if you don't want to tell me." Yet again, no reply. "Well, I should get going." With that, the eleven year old boy turned and started to walk away.

As he walked, he felt a small ping of disappointment; not at Davis but at himself for his inability in being a good friend. Another letdown and yet another reason why he was useless.

"I was thinking about what Matt said."

Cody stopped in his tracks and turned around.

"About how I should've followed orders and stayed with Kari and TK. Instead of leaving them to fight Ochumon." Davis sighed as he looked upward at the grey sky. "I can't help thinking…what if I did follow orders? How different would everything be?"

"Davis, you shouldn't--"

"I mean, TK would be here right now, wouldn't he? Kari wouldn't be in so much pain and everyone would be happy. How different would things have been if TK was here?" The high school teenager closed his eyes and shook his head slowly at the sky. "I keep telling myself I would do anything to make Kari happy. But, turns out, I can't even do that."

Davis sighed. "You know, I always knew Kari cared for TK deeply. She has feelings for him, whether she admits it or not, and I saw that. But despite seeing it, I _still _wanted to do my part in making her happy. Make my contribution; hope that I could keep that smile on her face just as well as TK could. But I couldn't. It's funny because, you know, you would think with TK gone, this is my perfect opportunity to gain some ground with Kari; prove myself to her; maybe even win her heart over. But, I can't even make her laugh with him gone. In the end, as long as Kari's happy, I'm ok with it. Even if it means I have to step out of the picture. But now…" He ran his hands through his hair. "I don't know. It's not just Kari anymore. Everyone seems to be taking it pretty bad. Never knew how important TK was to us."

Cody didn't reply and simply stood, lost at words. He never knew Davis had such a serious side to him. The older boy always maintained the image of a goofy, easy-going character. Granted that it was hard times, but still, such deep thoughts and seriousness seemed unlikely from Davis. But, then again, this was an example of how little Cody knew of his close friends. He remembered, years ago, when he confronted TK about his problem in not being close to anyone, the blonde had told him that it wasn't about knowing your friends that made them valuable; it was about being there for them at the right time that determined the strength of the relationship.

Cody dropped his kendo gear on the asphalt and sat in the empty place next to Davis. He took a deep breathe. "Davis, do you want to talk about it more?"

The older boy gave him a quizzical look. "You don't have to go anywhere?"

Cody dryly smiled. "No, I have all the time in the world."

* * *

"I don't understand where they could have gone." Izzy shook his head. "It's as if they vanished off the face of the Digital World."

"Maybe they went on vacation." Tentomon quipped.

The red haired boy furiously typed on his laptop. "This is no time for jokes, Tentomon. We need to locate Gennai and Azulongmon immediately."

"Who said I was joking…" The ladybug-like Digimon mumbled.

"I emailed Gennai's address over and over and still haven't received a reply. I've scanned the Digital World for their digital make-up, which should indicate their location, but nothing comes up. Hm…" The Digidestined stroked his chin wistfully. "It's almost as if they never existed. Do you think it's possible Daemon destroyed them?"

"Highly doubtful." His Digimon rose up. "If Azulongmon were to be destroyed, there would have been _some_ kind of disturbance throughout the Digital World and we would've known about it. After all, he _is_ one of the Guardians."

"My thoughts exactly. But if he wasn't defeated, then where is he?"

"Perhaps he's hiding?"

"But from what? And why wouldn't he inform us beforehand?" Izzy thought carefully. "I have a suspicion that it's more than just simple hiding." After a couple more minutes of pondering, the Digidestined of Knowledge let out a sigh and slumped back on his chair.

"It's ok, Izzy. So we can't find them. It'll be alright." Tentomon reassured.

"No, it won't. Without them, we have no answers and no real lead as to what Daemon is planning or where TK could be. We have no source to explain further the vagueness surrounding this situation. Right now, we are in the dark and I have no idea where to start in trying to solve such a complexity. They were our only source of information and, in my belief, the link that can lead us to TK."

"Well, if you put it _that _way…" His Digimon defensively whipped. "I was just trying to be positive."

Izzy sighed. "I know, I know…I apologize. It's just, with everything swirling around us, bickering and desperation, there's a lot of pressure and tension right now. It would be nice to defuse some of it."

"I understand but if you keep this up, you'll blow a brain fuse! You should relax for a bit."

"Unfortunately, time is not a luxury we can spare." the young boy mumbled. "We need answers _now_ so we can locate TK."

"Have you tried the Dark Ocean?"

Izzy nodded. "Of course. Ken tried to open a portal to the Dark Ocean but couldn't produce the same effect as last time."

"Do you think he's there?"

"Well, at this point, that is my only guess. Daemon isn't in the Digital World, that's for sure. So, my assumption is that the only other place he could be is in the Dark Ocean."

"Or maybe he's in another world?"

"That too." The Digidestined sighed.

"So there's no way to open a gateway to the Dark Ocean?"

"Ken was our only option. And that didn't work. I can't think of another way." Izzy started typing on his laptop once more. "If there was just a way to find a passage to the Dark Ocean, I have a feeling we'll find our answers there. But who can open a way?"

* * *

"_Kari."_

_The brunette heard her name, barely. It was a whisper, almost inaudible, echoing as she drew closer and closer to the mysterious figure ahead of her. The water was knee deep as she treaded through slowly, unsure if she was making a mistake or not. Even as she got closer, she couldn't really tell who the person was; just the outline of the individual's back was visible._

_The Digidestined of Light shivered. The ocean was ice cold and she had nothing on except a casual T-shirt and gym shorts. However, she endured the cold and continued to walk forward. Curiosity overwhelmed her as she desperately wanted to find out who else was trapped in the dark realm with her. She had a suspicion but didn't want to assume until she could find out indefinitely._

"_Kari."_

_Her name echoed once more in the desolate dimension, a bit louder than before. It wasn't eerie but, at the same time, it wasn't welcoming. However, hearing her name a second time, the brunette stopped._

"_Who's there?" She yelled. No response. The young girl quickly looked around her, searching for the source of her name. When she couldn't find anyone, she concluded that the identity of her caller had to be the individual she was originally heading toward. The back was still facing her, but, because she got closer, it was clear that it was a male. Hopes grew high as she continued to march toward him._

"_Kari…"_

_Ignoring the calling, she focused on simply reaching her destination. The water continued to rise higher up her leg as chills ran down her spine from the temperature of the ocean's touch. Kari bit her lower lip and willed herself forward; she wasn't going to be steered away even if it meant diving her whole body into the dark sea. _

_She was only a couple feet away when she felt something odd. With a quizzical look, the Digidestined stopped in her tracks. She looked around once more, as if trying to spot something unusual. Something didn't feel right for the brunette and usually her feelings were correct. However, despite the sense of oddity, she couldn't really pinpoint why anything would be out of the ordinary from a couple minutes ago. Taking one last moment to check her surroundings, Kari shrugged as she continued her march._

_By the time she reached the young boy ahead of her, the water had reached waist deep, almost up to her naval area. It was an unpleasant feeling, having half her body wet and the other half dry, but it was something she was willing to endure. Kari took one deep breathe and tapped the unknown figure on the shoulder. The boy slowly turned around and faced her as the brunette let out a small sigh of relief; it was as she had expected. Kari gave a weak smile, almost not believing the sight before her._

"_Hello… TK."_

* * *

Mimi looked at her younger friend almost in a curious manner. She took a small sip out of her hot coco before letting loose her famous smile.

"I'm so glad you could have lunch with me, Yolei!"

The lavender haired girl had been zoning out, lost in her own thoughts, before the unexpected greeting. She gave a startled look before quickly recovering with a smile of her own. "Oh, it's no problem, Mimi; if anything, I should be thanking _you_ for making time for me."

"Oh, nonsense! I always have time for friends." She winked. "Anywho, how's Odaiba been? I feel like I've been gone for years now!"

"Well…you kind of have been."

"Oh?" The Digidestined of Sincerity blinked. "You're right. I must be getting old, losing my memory like that."

Yolei let out a small giggle. She always enjoyed Mimi's presence and her extreme cheerfulness. It was the older girl's lively aura and her amazing ability to be able to socialize and befriend with others that she had envied. Already, the fifteen year old felt much looser and relaxed around the strawberry blonde than she had been for the past couple days.

"So, Yolei, how's everything with you?"

"I'm alright. I mean, with school coming up…you know they posted our finals the day_ before_ our winter dance? How cruel can you be?"

Mimi let out an astonished gasp. "Oh my! How do they expect a girl to get ready for a dance _and _study for tests?"

"Exactly! Getting ready for a dance takes _at least_ a couple days so that would mean I'd have to study for exams days beforehand and that's not good because I'll probably end up forgetting everything I learned while getting dressed up! I bet whoever arranged the dates for the finals was a guy." Yolei scoffed.

"Well, I think you'll be fine. You're smart enough to way a find to study hard and look beautiful at the same time. Unlike me, of course; I remember this one time when I was a hour late to school because my make-up box simply wouldn't open."

This caused both girls to burst in laughter. When they finished, Yolei felt a lot better, letting out her first real laugh in quite a while.

"So, Yolei, in all due seriousness, I heard you've been quite distressed lately." When Mimi saw the hesitation in the younger girl's expression, she added, "I'm only here to help and listen. You can trust me." She added as sincerely as she could.

"Well…" Being one of the few girls the fifteen year old admired, talking to Mimi sounded extremely tempting. After careful thought and consideration, Yolei decided it was worth confiding her issues with her. "I guess…it's just, you know, with everything that has happened so far…with TK and all…" The mention of TK brought out a serious expression on the strawberry blonde.

"And it's not just TK. I'm sure you've heard about the fight we had the other day…it just doesn't seem like we're as close as I thought we were. I mean, TK is kidnapped and instead of working together to find him, we're bickering amongst ourselves. Just one bad thing after another…"

"I completely understand."

Yolei looked up. "Really?"

"Of course." Mimi nodded. "I actually felt the same way before. You know, during our first adventure through the Digital World, we had a huge argument that led to Matt and Gabumon leaving the group. It was horrible! And the worst thing was, Tai and the others wanted to move on and leave Matt by himself. It wasn't just that; before that, there was a lot of small fights and tension between us. I felt like the group was falling slowly apart and that the only thing keeping us together was the chance to go home. That's not how friends should be, you know?"

"Yeah, I totally agree. So what did you do?"

The Digidestined of Sincerity laughed. "I pouted. I told the group I couldn't go on with the current state of the group and that I needed a break. They understood and left me and Joe behind to take some time off."

"I see…" The younger Digidestined was somewhat disappointed in the response; she was expecting to hear something that she could apply herself.

"While I was by myself," Mimi continued, "I started thinking. Thinking about all the past memories, good times, and experiences I had with the group. Then I started thinking about the people that made up the Digidestined. Why would such great people, all really nice and fun to be around, fight with each other, I asked myself. Then I realized something. I realized that the reason _why _we fought so much was _because_ we were such great people!"

"Huh?" Yolei was suddenly confused.

"Well, think about it. If, let's say, Tai was someone I really didn't care for. I wouldn't waste my time getting into an argument with him; I could care less what happens to him or what he thinks of me. But since Tai is someone I care about, I'll most definitely voice my opinion about some of the stuff he does and, if I don't like it, I'll tell him so. Fighting is one way of saying I care about you. And it's something you really can't avoid between good friends. It's through fights that people's relationship get stronger. Do you understand?"

"Yeah…"

"And since Tai is such a great person and friend, he fought with Matt a lot while we traveled around the Digital World. Not because he didn't like him or just wanted to start a fight but because he truly cared about Matt and what happened to him. And now look; the two of them are best friends." Mimi searched the younger girl's face to see if she had got the point. "I hope I didn't confuse you."

Yolei shook her head as a small smile crept up her face. "No…no, Mimi, you made perfect sense. And you're right. I guess, because I hadn't hung out with the others in so long, I had this ideal image of a perfect friendship between us. Where nothing bad ever happened. But I was just being naïve."

"Oh my, I would be terrified if I had a group of friends that never fought!"

The lavender haired girl laughed. "Me too." She looked up at the older Digidestined and beamed. A sense of hope filled her heart. "Thank you, Mimi."

The fashionable and pretty girl winked back. "Always here for you, hon."

* * *

Matt stared at the listless flower on the ground. It was winter so there should be no sign of life anywhere and yet, a single flower grew in the heaps of snow around it. It's redness stuck out like a sore thumb as it was the only sign of life from what the blonde could see. It's stem was a little bent, looking somewhat beat-up, but it was still capable of holding the plant intact and upright. A rare sight; a natural beauty, especially for the current season.

The Digidestined continued to stare as he drifted off into reminiscence. He had a black winter coat on along with gloves and a dark grey scarf to combat the chilliness of the weather but, even with such, he felt goose bumps down his arm.

"Hey Matt, what are you staring at?" Gabumon, his faithful and ever loyal Digimon asked.

"Look. A flower. Alive, during this weather. It's like a miracle." The blonde softly implied.

"Ohhh." The Digimon looked interested at the plant. "It's pretty."

"Yeah…pretty…" He bent down and stared at it some more. He let out a scoffing sigh as he withdrew his hand from his pocket and got ready to pick the flower.

"Matt."

The Digidestined of Friendship stopped before he could fulfill his deed. He got up and turned around, only to see Sora staring back at him, with concern in her eyes.

"Sora." Matt acknowledged.

The brunette stepped forward and slowly made her way next to the Digidestined of Friendship. She stared into his eyes, searching for a trace of hospitality. The blonde stared back, emotionless and uncaring, but quickly broke the connection, turning away from the beautiful young woman beside him.

"Matt, I know you're not mad at us."

The teenaged boy halted in his tracks and slowly cocked his head.

"Any of us. I know you're just putting up a front." Sora stated. "You want people to think you're mad at them so they won't bother you. So they won't see how emotional you are or how you really think of the situation."

"I know that you don't blame any of us; in fact, I think it's pretty safe to say that you place the blame solely on yourself. Being the older brother, you feel it was your responsibility to be there for TK and that you should saved him, protected him, from every harm possible."

"Because you blame yourself, you can't bear to face the others. The misery, the sadness, the pain the others are feeling…you feel responsible for them because, if you would've done your job as an older brother, none of this would've happened in the first place."

The brunette paused. "Despite all these years, Matt, you're still the same boy you were when we first met each other: reserved, lonely, and still carrying around so much responsibility. That's why it's so easy to read you. That's why it's so easy for _me_ to read you." Sora ended quietly.

The Digidestined of Friendship simply stood, letting the words of his friend sink in. A gust breezed by, causing his coat to ruffle a little.

"Matt…" Gabumon called out in a caring tone.

A drop. That's all it was. A single drop. A single drop of all the emotions, frustration, and inner conflict that had been bottled inside the troubled teenager. The tear rolled down the blonde's face, down his cheek, and onto his chin. It felt like it would freeze there and become solid ice due to the extremity in the weather but it didn't. Instead, it fell; it fell and hit the flower that Matt had been fixating on earlier.

The blonde turned away, hoping that the other Digidestined behind him didn't catch his small breakdown. He sighed as he closed his eyes; knowing Sora and how insightful she was, the brunette probably noticed the droplet. He just wasn't sure how she would react to it. If everything went his way, she would just leave him be and not speak of the moment to anyone.

Matt opened his eyes in shock as soon as he felt the two, thin arms gently wrap around his body. He could smell the sweet strawberry scent of Sora rush around him, intoxicating him, clouding his mind and making him somewhat dizzy. He looked down to see the pair of arms entangled, firmly gripping the blonde, not letting go. He felt the brunette's body leaning onto his, with her head rubbing against the middle of his shoulder blades, breathing so closely that he could almost feel it through his coat. What surprised him even more was his reaction; instead of resisting, the blonde found himself embracing back, enjoying the intimate gesture as a great deal of warmth spread throughout his body. He instinctively found his hand reach for hers, gripping it caringly. He quickly started thinking what he should do next and if what he was doing was morally right. His thoughts wildly shot through his mind, leaving him frozen and somewhat in a panic. However, as the embrace continued, the thoughts quickly died down and Matt simply stood, finding himself allowing the young girl behind him to show her affections for him. And, from how his own body was reacting, he was doing the same.

* * *

Ken Ichijouji smiled as he watched Matt and Sora enjoyed their moment together. It brought happiness to his heart; happiness to see that, despite the harsh times, his friends were able to find some hope within all the mess.

Earlier, the young Digidestined wanted to take a walk, blow off some frustration that had been building up for some time. He walked and walked, wondering around aimlessly, not paying attention to his surroundings. Eventually, he found himself leaving Tamachi and entering the area of Odaiba. With his mind preoccupied, and with a great deal of coincidence and luck, the Digidestined turned a corner on a street and happened to stumble upon the scene before him, witnessing everything unfold.

"What is it, Ken?" Wormmon asked curiously. His Digimon had been hidden behind the corner street, unable to see what his partner had seen.

The raven haired boy grinned lightly as he turned around. "Nothing, Wormmon…let's go home. I think I finally found my peace in mind."

* * *

"_TK."_

_The blonde before her didn't answer. He simply stared, emotionlessly, back at her. _

_With a puzzled look, Kari tried once more. "TK?" _

_This time, the Child of Hope shook his head slowly. He took her hand. The brunette gasped as she quickly withdrew; His hands were ice cold. Just the initial contact sent chills running down her spine. Still a little surprised by the touch, she peered into her best friend's eyes, looking for any signs of the boy she used to know. She found nothing but a great deal of sadness._

_TK pointed at the horizon, as if trying to show the young girl something. _

"_What is it, TK?" She asked. He didn't respond, causing her to wonder if he had lost the power of speech._

_Suddenly, Kari felt something was wrong. The water around her, which was waist deep, was getting lower and lower. Confused, she looked behind her, only to witness what she was feeling; indeed, the ocean was shrinking, as if dissipating from an unknown cause. It continued to shrink, becoming only knee high, until, eventually, the water was barely above her feet. The brunette, still puzzled, turned around, facing TK, and gasped._

_The water hadn't dissipated; it was simply pushing back, as if some kind of force was sucking up all the water on the shore and lifting it, creating a massive, towering wave. The wave loomed over both Kari and TK, waiting to crash down and swallow the two whole. With mouth slightly agape from the incredulous sight before her, her body froze, unable to move. She was standing on wet sand as the wave continued to get bigger and bigger. TK acted as if he hadn't noticed what was transpiring behind him and was simply staring at her with his sad eyes. _

"_TK!" Too late. The wave came crashing down, engulfing the blonde and eventually taking the Child of Light as well. She was thrown back as the cold water hit her hard. The water was still rushing past her, pushing her back as the brunette desperately tried to hold her ground. Underwater and sprawled over the sandy floor, Kari lifted her head and opened her eyes, trying to get a glimpse of her surroundings despite being underwater. Squinting, she was able to make out the sandy environment around her but, more importantly, she saw TK; he was standing as he was before, only submerged, completely unaffected by the impact of the wave. _

_The force of the continuous current was too much as she lost her balance and was slowly being swept further down the tide. In one last effort, Kari reached out her arm toward the blonde before her. She saw him shake his head once more. With that, the Digidestined of Light closed her eyes and let the rush of the ocean take over as her body was thrown backward, endlessly being pushed. She gurgled a bit as water entered her lungs, suffocating from the lack of air. Her mind slowly started to blank out ._

"_Don't come back…" The voice echoed through Kari's mind as everything around her turned black._

_And that's when she woke up._

* * *

Did you like it? Please read and reviews! I enjoy your guy's comments so much; it's very inspiring for an author to feel the acceptance of his readers for his work. So please, leave your thoughts! Thanks! 


	8. Chapter 8: Acceptance is the Key

**Chapter 8**

Kari woke up, sweaty and breathing heavily. She quickly looked around, trying to identify her surrounding. When she realized she was in the secure premises of her room, the young brunette let out a small sigh of relief. She brushed aside a bead of sweat from her forehead as the tension within her left.

Slowly and quietly, the young girl got out of her bed and blankets. In her light pink pajamas, she tip-toed her way to her door. On the corner of her eye, she could make out the shape of Gatomon sleeping in her own bed, purring in a rhythmic beat, enjoying her nighttime snooze. Not wanting to wake up her companion, The Digidestined quietly opened the door and slowly exited her room, shutting the door behind her.

As she made her way to get a cup of water, the brunette's mind started swirling and running with thoughts and contemplation over her ominous vision. Without a doubt, Kari knew that what she had experienced was not a dream; it was too real, felt too much like an intentional cause, as if someone was trying to get a message through to her. The ocean, the sand between her toes, the eerie aura emitting around her, all of the things that she had experienced or seen, seemed as if she actually had been taken to the Dark Ocean. Actually had been taken to see TK.

TK. The thought of seeing the blonde caused Kari's heart to skip, even if it was just imaginative. It felt like such a long time since she had seen him; however, based on what she observed from her dream, seeing her best friend didn't fill her up with relief as she thought it would. He looked ghastly, lifeless, and was filled with misery and sadness. She didn't sense the bright hopeful aura that normally radiated from TK and from what she could make out, it seemed almost as if he was giving up, allowing the darkness to consume him. When she stared into his cerulean eyes, the Digidestined of Light saw something that made her shutter; she saw defeat.

Filling her glass up, she hastily gulped down water, trying to clam herself down as her recent train of thoughts had made her somewhat nervous and scared. Without a doubt, she knew that time was running out and that she needed to find a way to rescue TK soon before he became lost in the spiral toward darkness. Unfortunately, she didn't know where to start. The young girl had no access to the Dark Ocean, no method or plan to save the blonde, and didn't even know what she was truly up against. Everything was a mystery and nothing seemed to be favoring her path in finding TK. To top it off, from what she witnessed in her vision, it might be too late to save the young boy; it seemed darkness' icy touch had already firmly grasped his soul.

Kari frowned and shook her head. She wouldn't let the situation discourage her, knowing that if TK was in her shoes, he wouldn't give up. He would preserve and, with a streak of stubbornness, would try and find a solution, staying hopeful during any circumstance. It was his greatest strength and one of the reasons why he was so special. A specialty that the brunette wished she had. No, she would not give up. Could not give up. Amidst the darkness, she would find hope.

The young girl let her cup down on the countertop. Granted she had resolution, she still needed to find answers to her problem. With that in mind, Kari started to think.

The Digidestined of Light made her way to the shadowy living room of her apartment but, because her eyes had already adjusted to the lack of light, she did so with ease. Kari sat down in her sofa and closed her eyes. Moments passed before she moved out of her position and rubbed her forehead. She then rubbed her eyes and blinked a couple times, as if to focus her pupils. She turned her head left, only to see the covered window with a shade of lighting from the moon creeping through. She turned her head right, viewing the kitchen area from which she had came from and the front door. The brunette sat there, passive and motionless, letting time freeze around her.

Kari let out a small sigh. No matter how much she thought through the situation, how many times she relayed the problems over in her head and tried to mix and match different possibilities, it all led to the same result: she needed to find a way to the Dark Ocean. And that was an answer she did not have.

Frustrated by the lack of progress, the brunette jumped up from her seat and walked over to her room. She quietly entered. As she listened to Gatomon's soothing purrs, Kari skimmed through her closet, taking out a light grey sweater and a pink overcoat. She looked through her drawers, taking out sweats and socks. Grabbing what she had wanted, the young girl made her way out of her room, exiting just as silently as she had entered.

She needed some fresh air. She needed to cool off, walk off the tension and build up of nervousness and pressure that had been inside of her for the past couple weeks. If anything, her recent vision was the tipping point; any more stress and the Digidestined of Light felt like she would implode. A decent walk around would definitely ease up her mind.

Kari opened the door and let the rush of cold frosty air hit her. She snuggled in her overcoat and made her way to the elevator. As she made her way down the apartment complex, her mind started to drift. At first, it was an aimless wandering; she just felt really out of it, as if dazed. But slowly, concrete images and thoughts started to form.

* * *

_In her mind, she saw TK. Tiny TK. TK back all those years ago when she first met him. They were back in the Digital World, right after defeating VenomMyotismon , and were making their way to find the Dark Masters. Everyone, the original Digidestined, were minding their own business as they too walked down the seemingly endless dirt road. TK was wearing his green hat that, fittingly, matched with the rest of his green clothes. He was walking, next to his brother, following Matt step by step down the road through the wild forest. The young blonde was directly ahead of her, only a couple yards in front of her. _

_Kari continued to stare at the Child of Hope as she too walked down the path. After a couple minutes, the blonde boy turned his head and looked back, matching the brunette's gaze. He blinked a couple times, holding a curious look, before slowly grinning. TK gave a small wave at the young girl, greeting her in a friendly nonchalant manner. As soon as he did, Kari broke the gaze and looked away, slightly blushing._

_TK was an particular boy; a boy that caught Kari's interest. While they only knew each other for a short period of time, she felt incredibly secure around him. She could feel a sense of confidence radiating from the tiny blonde; however, it was a confidence that was far different from the likes of her brother's. Tai was brash, out-spoken, a people's leader while TK's demeanor was more silent, soothing, and calm. It was a gentle compassionate poise that filled the brunette with reassurance and comfortableness. That attitude led to his constant upbeat behavior, cheerful and consistently optimistic. _

_He was, without a doubt, fun to be around. Whenever she got the chance to be with TK, Kari's smile seemed to permanently stay on her face. He proved to be funny, caring, thoughtful, and always seemed to find ways to make their adventure less worrisome. All this, and she didn't even really know him. Normally, Kari was extremely good at socializing with others, able to befriend with almost everyone she had encountered. But with TK, she was shy; she was hesitant with her actions, second guessed her thoughts, and strayed away from talking too much around him. It wasn't that she was scared of him. If anything, she felt absolutely comfortable around him and trusted him more so than her friends she knew much longer. But, she just couldn't bring herself to easily associate herself with him as she could. It was mystery for her, one that she could not explain, but hated nonetheless._

_Despite her falter, she still found ways to hang out with the fellow Digidestined. The more she hung out with him, the fonder she grew of him. Since the two were the closest in terms of age, they found themselves sticking with each other more so than with the other Digidestined. And as she continued to be around her friend, she found herself becoming a bit more self-conscious than she normally would be; she suddenly started caring about how she looked before him, checking her hair to see if it didn't look grungy or unkempt. She started to care how she talked and reacted, and how he talked and reacted to her, carefully choosing her words while being ultra-attentive to his. She acted strangely but yet it didn't bother her. Indeed, it made her heart beat faster, made the blood rush quicker throughout her body, and made her mind wander quite often. However, she found that just the chance to be close to TK, physically and mentally, was an opportunity that made up for the irregular behaviors. She was content, happy, at the notion that she and the Child of Hope were friends._

_Kari looked up to see if TK was still staring back at her. He had turned around and was walking forward like the rest of the Digidestined. The brunette sighed as relief swept her. She didn't know why but, for some reason, she found herself staring at the blonde often during their adventure. It was embarrassing; she didn't want TK to think she was weird and creepy so she tried her best to stop herself from doing so and letting him know about her strange habit. _

_Joe muttered something audibly as the rest of the Digidestined laughed, causing Kari to snap out of her daydream. She smiled weakly, hoping to play off as if being attentive. She gave a quick glance at TK; he was laughing out loud just like the others. Watching such a joyous sight, she couldn't help but giggle a little herself._

* * *

"_Hey TK?"_

"_Hm?"_

_Kari hesitated. She wasn't sure how to tell him. Or why she was saying it. Perhaps, it was the timing; they had just beaten the Dark Masters and were currently enjoying their last moments in the Digital World before returning to the Real World for good. It could be her last chance to let it out, not to mention the opportunity was perfect; she was alone with TK, both of whom were sitting under an enormous tree, resting as they got ready to leave. They were alone as the other Digidestined were saying their goodbyes to their Digimon._

"_What's up, Kari?" TK brought up again._

_The brunette made up her mind. It was now or never. She mentally took a moment to gather her composure and drew confidence._

"_I was just wondering…what do you think will happen when we get back?"_

_TK blinked a couple times. "Well, I guess we'll go back to our families. I know I'm going back to my mom right after this. She's probably worried sick about me!"_

"_Yeah…you don't live there, huh?"_

"_Huh?" The Child of Hope gave a puzzled look. "In the Digital World?"_

"_No, I meant back at Odaiba." _

"_Oh." He took a moment and slowly started again. "Yeah… you're right."_

"_That means…when we get back, you'll be going back home? Not Odaiba, right?"_

"_I guess so."_

_Kari sighed a little. She already knew the answers to her own questions and felt stupid relaying them to her friend. But, she had to find a way to build up her momentum to what she really wanted to say._

"_Why are you asking Kari?" The blonde inquired._

"_Well…" The young brunette reached for her whistle to fickle around with before stopping herself; she had remembered she didn't have it anymore. She had just given it to Gatomon earlier. She shook her head. "I guess I wanted to say something before we went back."_

"_Oh?"_

"_TK." Kari paused before resuming. "We haven't known each other very long but it feels we have huh?"_

"_Well, yeah. I get that feeling too."_

"_Yeah. And we've become really good friends, right?"_

"_Of course. Close friends." TK gave a curious smile. "Why are you asking these questions?"_

"_I don't know." Seeing that her response confused the boy in next to her, Kari clarified. "With other friends, I feel fine and normal. But with you, I feel…weird."_

"_Weird? What do you mean?" _

"_See, that's the thing; I'm not sure myself." The brunette shook her head. "I feel different with you than I do with my other friends. It's a strange feeling but not a bad feeling."_

_TK gave a quizzical look. "You're confusing me, Kari."_

"_I guess…you're special to me." Kari hesitated with her next sentence. "And…I don't want to lose anything special."_

_TK's boyish face gave off a somewhat bewildered look. "Why would you be losing me?"_

"_Because…once we go back, you'll be going back to your home and…I'll be going back to mine."_

_And then, the Child of Hope did something Kari did not expect; he smiled. He gave one of his famous boyish smiles as he sat there with her under the big oak tree. _

"_Kari, just because we're going to be separated for a bit doesn't mean our friendship is over."_

"_Really?" _

"_Of course. I'll always have you in my thoughts. You'll think of me too, right?" The blonde asked._

_Kari nodded her head. "Of course."_

"_Good. Then, as long as we always think about each other, we'll always be with each other!" With that the blonde gave a boyish grin and got up._

"_Where are you going?" The Digidestined of Light innocently inquired._

"_No where. Watch this." TK replied as he picked up a oval rock from the ground and faced the big oak tree which they were sitting under. He started to carve something but the brunette could not see due to the fact that the blonde's body was blocking her vision. After a few minutes, he stopped, paused for a moment, and then turned around to face the curious brunette. _

"_Tada! Finished." He pointed at the word which he carved out. Kari took a closer look at what he had written on the bark of the tree trunk and then gave a confused look._

"_Takari? What does that mean?"_

"_Well…You're name is Kari and mine is Takeru. I just thought about it and 'Takari' is sort of like the combo of the two." He grinned again. "This way, nothing can separate us, no matter what."_

"_Takari…" Kari repeated slowly. "It sounds pretty. I like it."_

"_Yeah, right?" TK sat back down next to the young girl. "I think so too."_

"_Wow…Did you just think of it?"_

_The blonde gave a startled look at the girl. "What?"_

"_Did you just think of it?" She repeated._

"_Um…Why do you ask?"_

"_Well, I think it's really clever. You must be really smart to think of something like that so quickly."_

"_Um…" TK gave a nervous laugh. "Of course! It's not like I thought about this before."_

_Kari nodded with agreement, oblivious to her counterparts suspicious reaction. "Takari…"_

"_Yep." The Digidestined of Hope slightly leaned his shoulder to hers. "TK and Kari. Together forever."_

_The brunette took a moment to soak in what her good friend was trying to say. It somewhat amazed her how simple TK managed to make everything despite the fact that she had felt the whole situation was a complex issue. He was so bright, so happy and optimistic about everything, that, even at her age, she couldn't help but chuckle at his innocence. He was pure, uncorrupted by the aspects of life, perhaps even a bit naïve but still, qualities that the brunette found enticing and warm. Throughout their whole adventure, he had been setting the example for her, showing her what a truly good-hearted person looks like. And while he was still extremely young, she felt safe to say that the young boy sitting next to her had a bright future filled with hope and happiness. And despite the doubts that clouded their friendship, she saw a future for the two of them together._

* * *

"_TK and Kari. Together forever."_

The words rang throughout Kari's head as the elevator doors opened. A moment passed as the young girl took a minute to recollect her thoughts. She stepped out of the elevator and started walking.

It got even colder as she walked. Light snow started to fall down from the sky, gently landing on her face, sending small cold shivers throughout her body. No one else was on the streets, begging her to internally question what the time was when she left. She embraced the loneliness, however, needing it to quietly ponder about her situation.

Her mind was scrambled with random and mindless thoughts, making it almost impossible for her to concentrate. She knew she should be trying to figuring out how to reach the Dark Ocean and, ultimately, save her best friend; that was the purpose of her walk outside. But, instead, she found herself mentally drifting away, unable to maintain a focus on reality.

* * *

_Kari giggled lightly as she stood in front of her locker with her friends, simply chatting and talking amongst each other. It was a typical school day and she had just finished her last class, filling her with a sense of relief. She loved the sense that, after a hard day in school, she could just relax with her friends and blow off the steam built up throughout the evening. Before, because of her duties as a Digidestined and her constant responsibilities to fight evil, the brunette always found herself even more stressed out after school. But since peace and tranquility finally seemed to reign, Kari was able to live the life of a normal teenage girl. _

_A tap on her shoulder prompted her to turn around. The young girl was greeted by a boy._

"_Hi, Kari." The boy shyly stated._

"_Oh, hi, Arthur." Kari tried to conceal her surprise; Arthur was a fellow classmate who was in her history class. However, despite knowing his name, she never really talked to him nor really knew him personally, which prompted her to feel a bit startled to see that he was approaching her._

"_Um…" A long and awkward pause followed. Kari could almost feel the weird looks and glares her friends were giving him, almost as if interrogating him for what he wanted. Arthur simply stood in front of her, as if frozen. _

_The brunette took the initiative. "Did you want to talk to me?" She asked gently, hoping to help him brake out of his state. Silently, the brunette hated how her friends were making it even more awkward for the young boy. They were making it impossible for the tension to die down between the two of them._

_Despite that, however, Arthur managed to regain his composure. "N-no. I just wanted to give you this." He quickly handed her a small, neatly wrapped gift. "Happy birthday." Arthur mumbled. Before Kari could even register what had happened and even give thanks, the male student bolted out of the scene, leaving her somewhat flabbergasted. _

_As soon as he left, all her friends started to crowd around her, chattering loudly and noisily._

"_Oh! Kari, you got another gift! Open this one!"_

"_I can't believe Arthur gave you a gift! You don't even know him!"_

"_What is it??"_

"_Are you going to open it? You have to open at least one!"_

_Kari simply blushed and brushed aside her friend's comments. She took out her backpack and opened it. She placed Arthur's gift on top of all the other gifts she had received that day. Closing the backpack up, she couldn't help but feel bad seeing all the presents people had given her just because it was her birthday. She had really hoped that no one would know but, unfortunately, things did not go the way the brunette wanted. Throughout the whole day, she was constantly being given gifts and recognition, making her feel somewhat uncomfortable. She hated being the center of attention and just hoped that the day could be just like any other day._

"_Kari! You're not going to open ANY of them??"_

"_I will. But I'll do it when I get home." The Digidestined of Light firmly stated. A loud whine of disappointment filled the group. She didn't want to open her presents in front of her friends in fear of embarrassing anyone who gave her a present and allowing the group of girls to gossip and use the gifts to create gossip._

"_Kari!" _

_The brunette smiled and knew who had called her out without even looking. She turned around to be greeted by a waving TK, who was waiting for her in front of the school main doors. The blonde and her walked home together everyday and, while she knew that, Kari was extra grateful for his discreet rescue and her equally discreet excuse. _

_The brunette quickly said her goodbyes to the group of girls and made her way to her best friend. As she approached him, he was flashing his signature grin._

"_What's so funny?" She asked._

"_Oh, nothing. Just love how uncomfortable you look and feel. Even if it's only for a day." He teased._

"_Hmph. You're mean." Kari pouted._

"_Welcome to MY world." The two of them made their way out of the school gates and onto the sidewalk. " After all the times you teased me, it's finally good to see that you're getting a taste of your own medicine."_

_Kari gasped as she turned to him. "You were WAITING AND WATCHING, huh??"_

_TK gave a mischievous smile. "I probably could have budded in a bit earlier. But why spoil the fun?"_

_The brunette punched his arm in a playful manner as she pouted again. "You're so cruel."_

_The blonde broke out in laughter. After his laughter died down, he shook his head with a grin. "I love it. So, how many gifts did you get?"_

_Kari sighed. "I don't know. Too many."_

"_Did you get Jason's flowers?"_

_The young girl's eyes widened. "You KNEW about that??"_

"_Of course. I was there when he bought them."_

"_WOW! You ARE evil!"_

_Again, the young boy's laughter rung throughout the area as the two kept walking together._

"_I can't believe you KNEW he was going to buy me flowers and you still didn't tell me!"_

"_I mean, even if I told you, what difference would that have made? You would have gotten them regardless."_

"_You could've stopped him!"_

"_I don't think so. He was pretty set on buying those flowers." TK scanned her. "By the way, where are the flowers?"_

_Kari sighed. "I asked Gatomon to take them back home during lunch."_

_TK chuckled. A silence briefly followed before the blonde broke the ice. "So, what is your family going to do for your birthday?"_

"_Um…probably dinner together and a cake. Just typical stuff. They know I don't like to make a big deal about my birthday."_

"_I see."_

_Kari gave her best friend an evil stare. "You better watch out when it's your birthday. I'm throwing ALL the girls at you."_

_TK grinned. "Fine. But that's not for a while so…until then, this is your birthday."_

_The Digidestined of Light shook her head in playful disdain. She noticed that they were almost to her apartment. She couldn't wait to get home. The weight of all the gifts in her backpack was hurting her back._

"_What are you going to do with all the presents?"_

_The brunette shrugged. "I have to open them. I just hope no one spent too much money."_

"_I think Drake bought you a necklace…"_

_Kari blushed madly. "TK!"_

"_I'm kidding." The blonde chuckled. By the time they had reached the front of her apartment complex, Kari was ready to bury herself in her pillows. She was not prepared for all the sly remarks her best friends had ready and was eager to get away before he bombed her with more._

"_What are you going to do today?" She asked. _

_The blonde shrugged. "I don't know. I have a lot of homework so I'll probably work on that." He gave her a grin. "Ok, have fun at dinner. Happy birthday Kari." He hugged her, as she grudgingly accepted, and then continued to walk to his apartment._

_The Digidestined of Light sighed as she made her way into the elevator and to her apartment. By the time she reached the front door, she felt a great deal of relief to be home._

_When she opened the door, she saw that her older brother, Tai, was doing the dishes, an unusual sight considering he never cleaned._

"_Hi, Tai. Why are you cleaning?" Kari asked somewhat suspiciously._

"_Mom complained about how I never clean and that I wouldn't last a day by myself. So, she's making me clean." Tai grunted. _

"_Oh." The brunette took her shoes off, gently put down her backpack in fear of braking any presents, and slumped onto her living room coach._

"_How was your day?" Her older brother asked._

"_It was good." Kari mumbled back. "A lot of people gave me gifts."_

"_Oh. That's good."_

"_No, not good. Now, I feel bad."_

"_Bad? About what? They're gifts."_

"_No…a lot of them are from people I don't know too well or don't really talk to. Some of them are even from people I don't straight out know. I feel so bad accepting gifts from people like that."_

"_Oh…well, give them to me." _

_Kari got up from sat on the coach. "You want a yellow shirt that has a cartoon monkey holding onto a big heart as it's logo?"_

_Tai shrugged. "Why not? I could use an apron right now."_

_The brunette giggled at her brother's nonsense. _

"_Oh, by the way, Patamon came by to drop off something earlier. I think it's from TK."_

"_Oh?" She got up from her spot. "What is it?"_

"_Not sure. It's on your desk." As she made her way to her room, her brother yelled, "We ran out of detergent! Is it ok if I use the bar soap from the shower instead?"_

"_NO!" _

"_Aw man! What the--" Kari closed the door behind her, muting out her brother. Gatomon was in the room as well, napping on the young girl's bed. She made her way to her desk, where she found a small wrapped box on it. A tag was sticking out and written on it was, "TO: Kari."_

_The brunette shook her head and smiled. She picked up the gift and slowly examined it. It was a rather simple looking present; the gift wrapping paper was basic light pink and had a yellow bow on the top. The present itself was barely bigger than the palm of her hand. _

_Kari took a moment to contemplate. After the brief pause, the brunette shrugged and unwrapped the present. She then lifted the lid for the small box, finding a folded paper. The young girl unfolded the paper and started reading the note. It read: _

"_I told you."_

_Befuddled and lost, the brunette re-read the short and simple note, trying to find any hidden messages or meaning behind the note. After coming to the conclusion it was nothing more than the three words, Kari turned her attention to the gift in her hand. In the small box was a piece of bark. And on the piece of bark was a word Kari hadn't seen in over three years._

"_Takari…" Kari whispered. Memories flooded the brunette as she started to laugh softly at the simplistic yet thoughtful gift from TK. Emotions overwhelmed her as a couple tears of happiness ran down her face. She wiped them away but still had a gigantic smile across her face, unable to suppress the joy filling her heart._

_The brunette put the gift down on her desk softly as she stared at it. The moments under the oak tree, the conversation with her best friend, the feeling of doubt and uncertainty along with happiness and satisfaction that followed, and the vow they made, all came back to her, reminding her how important the Digidestined of Hope was to her._

"_Oh TK…" She gently whispered while slightly giggling._

"_KARI! DINNER'S READY!" Her mom yelled from the kitchen. The yell broke her out of her state of mind, as she snapped back to reality from her dazing. As she walked out of her room, she felt a big breeze of happiness sweep her. As she approached the dinner table, her older brother gave her a suspicious look._

"_You look really happy…What happened?" He asked._

_Kari gave a huge smile. "Nothing. I'm just happy it's my birthday."_

* * *

It hit her. It dawned upon her as she stood still, out in the cold as the light snow flakes fell from the sky. At first, she was confused. She couldn't understand why all her memories were flooding her at such a peculiar moment, continuing to keep her attention astray. But the answer blind-sided her as fast as her mind kept transitioning from day-dreaming to reality.

It was a screaming truth that had been kept hidden and buried from everyone, especially herself. A truth that she always subconsciously knew about but kept denying, lying to herself for in fear of the repercussions and consequences that could develop if she had accepted the realization. So much so that, the brunette was preventing herself from possibly being the happiest she could be. However, the truth could not be obscured by the clouds of lies and denials she had created. It was a beacon of light that always shined but was always overlooked due to her insecurities, fears, and betrayal of emotions.

Kari was in love with TK.

It was so simple but yet, she had made it so complicated. It didn't seem like such a surprise but yet, she was frozen with shock over the realization. Facing the possibility of losing the blonde forever, her love for the young boy grew clearer and clearer until the shrouds of deception and suppression could not hide the overwhelming emotion. All of their cherished memories, hardships, and intimidate times together served as a reminder to the young girl exactly how important their relationship was, how closely linked she was to him, and how the charming young blonde was meant for her.

Kari fell to her knees, unable to support her body standing up. It started to snow faster as the weather became chillier but the brunette didn't care; she couldn't feel anything other than dazed and shocked. It was as if she had been dreaming her whole life and, all of the sudden, she woke up. Woke up to the truth and reality that she had been running away from for so long. She was in love.

A small smile slowly crept up her face. The shock started to wear off and was soon being replaced with another emotion: Joy. Realizing and accepting the graces of love, Kari found herself reminiscent of all the happy moments of her life and found that most of them had TK in them. The young boy was indeed a central part of her life; always there for her, to take care of her, even though she never returned the favor. He was her vanguard from all the harms and evils the world threw at her, constantly protecting her, whenever she needed him. In fact, the past recent events, as devastating as they were, just showed exactly how badly she needed the Digidestined of Hope in her life. Ultimately, it showed exactly how badly she _wanted_ the young blonde in her life.

"TK…" She had to tell TK how she felt about him. No longer would she hide in insecurity and lies, but instead, accept her emotions and do justice to them. The search for the blonde had a new meaning to it now. Driven by new found motivation, the brunette slowly picked herself up, still slightly smiling. The despair and uncertainty were gone from her heart. Instead, it was replaced with hope and determination.

"I'll find you TK." She whispered with resolve. "I'll find you and tell you…that I love you."

The Digidestined of Light felt warm suddenly. The snow was still falling and the temperature was still cold but, for some reason, the young girl felt a great deal of warmth emitting from her body. She looked down at her body and gasped; bright pink rays of light were radiating and flashing before her eyes. She looked around herself to see if the source of such powerful radiance was coming from somewhere else but found that she was correct the first time; the beams was coming from her own body. The pink light continued to glow, brighter and brighter. Kari, instead of being afraid of what was happening, found herself fixated at the beauty of what was transpiring before her. She stared downward at the core of the flashing lights, which happened to be right in the middle of her body, and marveled at them. It felt good. The brunette felt serenity and peace as the pink rays surrounded her.

Kari broke out of her stance and looked up. Before her, she found a equally bright pink portal. It illuminated with the same beams of light that seemed to have enwrapped the Digidestined of Light, shining brightly amongst the darkness of the night. Kari took a moment and stared at it. She looked around, to see if anyone else was around, and found she was alone. She returned her attention to the portal in front of her. She had no idea where the portal came from or where it even led to. Furthermore, she was completely lost as to what the shining light coming from her chest was. But, despite the ambiguity of the situation, she felt…trust. And hope.

With TK in her mind, The brunette step forward and entered the portal.

* * *

It's been a while for me. People are probably wondering what happened and why I stopped, but the truth is, I really don't know. I suppose I sort of lost the desire to write sometime ago and was going to leave this story here, unfinished. However, after a LONG hiatus, I looked back on this story and was simply amazed how much support and reviews it was receiving DESPITE my tenure away. Because of that, I decided, this story deserved to be finished. Thank you for your non-ending support; you're faith will be rewarded.


	9. Intermission

**Intermission**

Dear fellow fanfiction readers,

I have so many things to say. First things first. I just want to apologize for such a long absence from this story. It truly has been a long time. Honestly speaking, I never intended on coming back to this story. Shortly after I wrote chapter 8, I started to lose the will to write. I was undergoing some personal issues at the time so I just couldn't clear my mind enough to write. So, I decided simply scrap everything, even this story. And for a long time, I never looked back. What changed my mind? Well, I don't want to take up too much space writing about it especially since it's in the middle of the story so I'll explain everything at the end.

As you can see, I have posted chapters 9, 10, 11, and 12 all at once. Why? Because I felt really bad that I never completed the story and seeing how many readers were looking forward to updates, I felt like I let down a lot of people. So, to make it up, I decided to simply finish the story by posting all the remaining chapters instead of posting them one by one.

Have fun reading everyone! If you want, my author's note will go more into depth over everything that has happened and hopefully clear up some questions.

Charlieboyyy

(PS: Charlieboyyy is my new user name…when I re-entered my account and saw my name as: WolfxRider, I cringed; I dont't even know what that means anymore.)


	10. Chapter 9: Confrontation, At Last

**Chapter 9**

As soon as Kari took that small step into the unknown portal, she found herself on a bleak beachfront. The sand beneath her feet gave away, imprinting her footmarks on the supple ground. The crashes of the violent waves immediately overwhelmed her auditory senses, as if to echo deeply around her. The Digidestined of Light no longer saw the view of Odaiba Park where the open field, living trees, and soft grass existed; instead, she saw the endless beach before her, dark and gloomy, just like in her dreams. Kari was in the Dark Ocean.

Still somewhat afraid, the brunette cautiously walked forward, waiting to see if anything would pop up to attack her. When she saw that she was completely alone at the shore, Kari sighed in relief. While being alone in such a forsaken place was not the ideal scenario, it was still a much better option than being with something that actually dwelled there.

"How did I end up here?" Kari quietly asked herself. She turned around to see if the pink portal that had brought her there was still open. It wasn't. Afterwards, the girl scanned her surroundings, checking one more time to see if she was absolutely alone. When she saw that nothing else occupied the area, she bit her lower lip and started thinking.

There were so many questions she had. Where did the portal come up? How was it summoned? How did it lead her to the Dark Ocean? And what was that pink light that had materialized from her body? So many questions and yet, she knew none of them mattered. What mattered was that she got what she wished for and had to take advantage of the situation. With a strong resolve, Kari took a deep breath and started jogging forward.

"TK!!!" She yelled. Her cry for her friend echoed throughout the land. It was somewhat scary, jogging around in a completely unknown area that was filled with darkness while yelling at the top of her lungs; it was almost as if she was just asking for some evil monster to find her. But, she didn't know how else to look for TK. And finding TK was the only thing on her mind.

"TK!!!!!" The brunette shouted again. Her heart was pounding despite the fact she had only jogged for a couple minutes. Anxiety was creeping into her heart, ready to swallow her and leave her completely in fear, just as it did the last time she was here. However, this time, Kari was filled with determination and would not allow the fear to grip her. Not until she found her best friend.

"TK!!!!!!"

"With all this ruckus, you're going to wake someone." A deep voice boomed. The Digidestined stopped in her tracks, frozen by the abrupt proclamation. She knew who the voice belonged to.

"Daemon! Where are you?!"

As if on cue, the demon-like Digimon appeared from the ground before her. "You're just looking for everyone today, aren't you, Digidestined?" He chuckled darkly.

The fearsome sight of Daemon made her legs shake a little but Kari would not back down.

"Where's TK?"

"Your friend that you were yelling for incessantly earlier? Oh, he's fine; don't worry about him. I would worry more about yourself." Daemon's cold purple eyes pierced through her, as if to look into the brunette's soul. "You are bold, young girl. Coming to the Dark Ocean all alone with no protection. Very bold. A bit foolhardy but I like that." With that, he laughed.

Tired of the Digimon's teasing, a sudden anger arose within Kari. "I don't care! All I care about right now is to see TK! Where is he?!"

The powerful Digimon bellowed out loudly once more. "My my. You are full of courage. I see that you are driven with fierce determination to find your lost friend." Still chuckling, he added, "Very well. Since I…_commend_ such bravery, I will give you what you want." With that, he raised his right arm. As soon as he did, a small patch of the sand before him was covered in darkness. Then, from the shadows, arose a figure. As soon as she saw the face of the newly summoned being, Kari's face lit up.

"TK!" She ran towards her blonde friend, ready to embrace him in her arms. However, as she got closer, she realized something was wrong. At first, it was just a small chill that ran up her spine but as the Digidestined of Light drew nearer and nearer to her companion, she felt an ominous aura surrounding TK; an aura that was very similar to the one the Dark Ocean emitted. Before Kari knew it, she found herself stopping dead in her tracks, unable to inch closer. Filled with confusion and uncertainty, she simply stared back at her fellow Digidestined.

"TK?" He didn't respond. Kari peered closer onto his face and was slowly filled with dread over what she saw; the once bright, hopeful, and cheery face that lit up the young girl's mood was replaced by a lifeless, dark, and gloomy expression. A sinister presence loomed over him, threatening to overwhelm Kari as well. Unable to face a certain possibility, the brunette looked into TK's eyes in one last attempt to find the young boy she had come to save. Once she did, Kari looked away in pain. The deep cerulean eyes full of emotions and hope that the brunette loved about TK were now replaced with a bland and shadowy glare.

She couldn't take it anymore. Tears were forming as she started choking up. Grinding her teeth in angst, Kari turned her attention to Daemon.

"_WHAT HAVE YOU DONE_?!"

The demonic monster gave an amused look. "Me? I simply gave you what you asked for. Is this not what you wanted?"

"No…not this…" Kari whispered as the pain from her heart shot throughout her body. Unable to stand, she found herself on her knees. "Please…"

"You poor girl. Blinded by your delusional emotions, you fail to see that I have actually done this Digidestined a _favor._" Daemon paced slowly next to the blonde boy. "Before, he was weak. Full of the same misguiding emotions that you have right now, he allowed himself to fall under the influence of sediments." He paused in his tracks. "Pathetic." Daemon added in disgust.

"But now… now he is strong. Powerful. He has nothing holding him back from being the true terror he can be! He is…_perfect_." The demonic Digimon rested his hand on TK's shoulder. "Of course, getting rid of his glaring weaknesses was no easy task. I had to purge the boy of them but nothing a couple weeks of excruciating torture couldn't fix." He chuckled. "I will admit, the Child of Hope was a strong willed one. Never before had I seen such resistance and fight in anyone. However, like all the others, he too eventually succumbed to the darkness."

Kari couldn't listen anymore. Her heart was breaking more and more with every word Daemon uttered. With the tears in her eyes blurring her vision, she looked up at the person who she once knew as her best friend.

"TK?" Again, there was no response.

"He no longer recollects who you are. Filled with the powers of darkness, he has forgotten the miserable life he once lived and now knows only one thing: that _I_ am his master." Daemon chimed. "He is the ultimate solider of chaos! With his powers from being the _former_ Digidestined of Hope mixed with the powers of darkness, he is truly unstoppable."

Kari shook her head in disbelief. "What do you want from him? Why are you doing this?!"

The demonic Digimon gave a bemused look. "Why? Poor girl. Do you really not see? It has always been prophesied that the Digidestined of Hope and Light would wield such immense power. Such delicious and corruptible power. Powers that could tilt the very balance between good and evil. For too long have the forces of good abused such an advantage…and you know what the silliest thing is? They never fully utilized this gift. If they wanted to, those idiotic and naïve fools could have used you two to obliterate any resistance! No agent of darkness would be able to stand up against such might! They could have gotten rid of all evil if they wished. But no; they were too self-righteous to do such a thing. Instead, they relied on the powers of Hope and Light to simply hold their feeble ground. Well, their pretentiousness and over-reliance will be their downfall; now, we will be the ones that they will fear. By harnessing the powers of Hope, this never ending struggle between good and evil will finally be over!"

"But why him?! Why didn't you choose me instead???"

"Because he was the finer choice. His heart was already filled with uncertainty and darkness long before I came along. His grief, his hatred towards the forces of darkness, and his sadness made converting him so much easier. And suitable."

Kari looked at TK with disbelief. That was not the TK she knew. The blonde always showed happiness, hope, and love; not the characteristics Daemon had just stated.

"I see you are confused." Daemon chuckled. "The loss of his Digimon at such a young age. The divorce of his parents and eventual split of his family. The struggle in his heart over his feelings…It's no surprise; although, he did hide it considerably well. But no matter how hard he tried to suppress it, bury it, or ignore it in his heart, the darkness doesn't lie."

"You can say, I did him a favor. He no longer has to be chained down by his own shackles of shame; he is free! Free to express his true heart's nature. And now, because of that, he is more powerful than he was before."

The Digimon tilted his head. "Well, no more chit-chat. We are on a tight schedule you know. Destroying the Digital World, conquering other worlds, and all. However, if you want to stop your friend and save the worlds from certain destruction, you are by all means welcome to do so." With that, he sidestepped away from TK. "Here's your chance. I will let you destroy him and ultimately put an end to our devious plans. All you need to do is channel some of your incredible powers and…end his existence."

Kari couldn't hide her horror. The brunette gazed at TK. The young boy before her that was once her best friend simply stood idly as if waiting for her to do as Daemon had offered her to do. Deep in her mind, she knew what the dark Digimon had said was true; TK was influenced by the powers of darkness. And from what Azulongmon that told her before, he wielded terrifying force. Now that he was an agent of evil, that power would be used to harm others. In her mind, she knew she had to stop him before he could do so. But in her heart, the young girl also knew there was no way she could hurt TK. She couldn't even imagine such an atrocity. With that, Kari closed her eyes and looked away.

"Can't do it, eh?" Daemon commented. "I thought so. Your emotional ties are so amusing and pathetic. You have the perfect opportunity to stop the most powerful harbinger of doom created and yet you can't bring yourself to do so. Well, your loss. Actually, it's everyone else's loss if you think about it." With that, the Digimon laughed. "Anyways, don't expect the same kind of weakness from your friend though." He turned to TK. "_Destroy her_."

The blonde took a step forward. The shadowy aura radiating from him grew and, much to Kari's disbelief and pain, shot a small beam of complete darkness at her. The brunette quickly moved from her spot right as the ray impacted on the sand. A small explosion followed as sand shot up in the air, causing debris to form in the air. Kari coughed and squinted from the flowing sand. When everything cleared up, she looked up to see that TK was still standing, emotionless and unfazed to what he had just done. The dark aura around him continued to illuminate from him.

"TK! Stop! It's me, Kari!" The Digidestined of Light pleaded. Kari could hear Daemon's laughter in the background.

"Oh yes, plea to him. Try to reach out to him. I simply love it!"

Another beam shot towards her. Again, Kari had to swiftly move out of the way or else she would be dead. With no other thought in mind, the brunette started to run away.

"Where are you going? We were just starting to have fun!" The evil Digimon bellowed. "This is the Dark Ocean, little girl! There is _nowhere_ you can run where we won't find you!"

Kari kept running. She wasn't running for her life or from the deadly attacks; the Digidestined just couldn't face TK the way he was. As tears started to form again, she found herself again wishing everything was just a dream and that she would wake up from the terrible nightmare. She just couldn't take any more of it. The pain, the sadness, the betrayal….all of it was too much. She needed to get away from it all. For her heart's sake.

* * *

Matt Ishida walked alone along a sidewalk without a single soul in sight. And for good reason; it was three in the morning. For as far as the blonde could see, the outside city was completely empty and quiet. The small crunches of his footsteps on the snow echoed throughout the streets as Matt could even hear himself breathing. He tightened his scarf around his neck due to the icy weather. His overcoat was warm but yet the coldness still made him shiver a bit. However, despite this, the Digidestined found comfort in the solitude of the city. With no distractions around him, he was able to think clearly, allowing his mind to wander a bit as he methodically walked. Before he knew it, the young boy found himself at his destination. He paused as he looked up at the apartment complex before him. All the apartment lights were off as most people were soundly sleeping at the current time. All but one.

Matt entered the elevator and made his way up. He slowly walked until he reached the one lit apartment. Taking one deep breathe, he knocked on the door.

Joe Kido answered the door. The older Digidestined smiled as soon as he saw his blonde companion.

"Matt. It's great to see you."

Matt nodded in return and smiled even though Joe wouldn't be able to see it due to his scarf. "Same goes for you, Joe. I heard you were in town. I'm sorry I haven't made an effort to visit."

The bearer of Reliability waved it off. "Don't worry about it." He then motioned for Matt to come in. "Everyone else is here." With that, Matt entered the apartment.

Inside, he found all of his Digidestined companions and their Digimon sitting in the living room of the apartment. Tai Kamiya was the only one standing. It was weird seeing everyone again. While he had kept in contact with Sora, Matt had strayed away from the rest of the Digidestined since TK's kidnapping, not wanting to see or talk to anyone. Especially Tai. However, when the blonde received Tai's call and told him it was urgent, Matt's conscious got the better of him.

"Matt," The leader greeted. "Thanks for coming." Matt could see that Tai was worried. His expression gave away a sense of desperation and nervousness. "Could you take a seat?"

The blonde nodded with confirmation. Although he and Tai were currently not talking, Matt knew that his friend wouldn't call him to come to his apartment at three in the morning if it wasn't urgent. With that said, the blonde was willing to put aside their personal grudge if the situation was dire.

"Alright. We have to be quiet when we talk; I don't want to awake my parents. Now that you guys are all here…" Tai sighed. "Kari's missing."

Matt could hear Sora and Mimi's small gasp. Tai continued solemnly. "Gatomon woke up in the middle of the night and found that she wasn't in her bed. I searched the apartment but…she's not here."

"Have you looked anywhere else?" Izzy asked.

The Digidestined of Courage nodded his head. "I already went to all the possible places she could be. No sign of her."

There was a momentary silence. The atmosphere reeked of negativity.

"How about the Digital World?" Gomamon inquired hopefully.

"I haven't tried there but…" Tai hesitated. "Guys, I think the Dark Ocean took her."

"Wait, Tai." Tentomon budded in. "Let's not jump into conclusions."

"Tentomon's right. We shouldn't assume the worst case scenario first. We should try and explore all other options." Joe added.

"What makes you think the Dark Ocean took her?" Sora asked as well.

The Kamiya boy shook his head. "I just…have a feeling. Like a sibling intuition. I just…" He couldn't finish his sentence. Instead, he slouched down on the floor and had his hands running over his hair. Matt and the other Digidestined witnessed something that they hadn't seen in a long time: their courageous leader in a defeated state.

No one dared to say anything. Even Sora, the motherly figure amongst the group who was usually the one to care for those in need, didn't approach Tai. Everyone was in shock, unable to deal with the current predicament.

As he watched his best friend break down before everyone, Matt couldn't help but feel sympathetic towards him. Not just because Tai now knew how Matt felt when TK was captured or even because of the current state of the leader; it was because of their friendship. As detached and upset Matt was, it pained him to see his best friend sulking in sadness. Through all their fights, arguments, and discord with one another, it never changed the fact that they were always there for one another when it mattered. Outside of the blonde's family and Gabumon, Tai knew Matt the best; the two of them cared for one another and looked out for each other. The Digidestined of Friendship never doubted Tai when it came to their relationship, despite the bickering they found themselves in. He knew that his companion always had his back and was willing to sacrifice his own personal happiness for the blonde. And Matt could say without a doubt that he reciprocated those feelings.

Matt got up from his seat and slowly made his way to the goggle head boy before him as the others watched. Feeling his presence, Tai looked up. Matt gave a small smile.

"Tai…" With that, the blonde offered his hand. "We'll find Kari. I promise."

The Digidestined of Courage had a somewhat startled look on his face. But after looking into his friend's eyes and seeing nothing but sincerity and resolve, Tai seemed to relax a bit.

"Thanks Matt. I mean…really. I can't even explain how much that means." Tai smiled back. And with that, he took Matt's outreached hand and grasped it firmly, realizing that the two best friends were united once again.

* * *

After what felt like an eternity, Kari stopped running, catching her breath. Gasping for air, she turned around to see if anyone was following her; she only saw the endless shore. Relaxing for a bit, the brunette took her time as she tried to get a hold of herself.

She still couldn't believe what had transpired. Shock and numbness spread throughout her body after what had happened. With all her will, she truly wished everything was just a bad dream; a dream where she could wake up and erase from her memories. But she knew it was not so. The image of TK and how ruthlessly he attacked her burned in her mind freshly. And she knew, no matter how hard she tried, that image would be there forever.

Kari still couldn't cope with her best friend's fate. He had become a soldier of darkness, evident with his destructive power and his twisted heart. The Digidestined of Light knew if she did not stop him there and now, he would wreck havoc upon the Digital World. Just the thought of that made Kari bend over in pain. Furthermore, the thought that she would have to stop TK brought tears in her eyes.

She just never imagined this day would come; the day when TK would be a part of the forces of evil. It was a dreadful thought but that same thought had now become a reality. What killed Kari even more was just the thought of the amount of suffering the blonde underwent; Daemon mentioned he had tortured the poor boy into submission. Just thinking about what kind of pain and torture TK had gone through made her cringe.

Kari heard something not too far from her. She immediately looked up and scouted the area. For as far as she could see, there was no one there. Right when she thought that however, a small patch of darkness appeared before her and TK along with Daemon appeared from the patch. She gasped as they made their appearance.

"Good try Digidestined but I told you before…this is the Dark Ocean. It is my world. There is no where you can go where I won't find you." Daemon commented in a chastising manner. "Now, where were we? Oh, yes. My new apprentice was just about to destroy you. Well, enough delaying; unfortunately for you, we have a world to conquer so time is of the essence. And with the Child of Hope corrupted and the Child of Light destroyed, the Digital World along with all the other worlds will be completely defenseless and will fall into complete chaos and destruction." The demon Digimon turned to TK. "Kill her."

The blonde raised his hand and a surge of dark energy materialized in his hand. Unable to move, Kari squeezed her eyes shut and prepared for the worst. There was no way she could bring herself to fight TK. As she prepared for her imminent demise, she simply wished she could see her brother one last time.

* * *

"It's so good to see you guys have made up." Gabumon commented as Tai and Matt shook hands.

"Seriously. I wasn't sure how long that fight was going to last." Agumon added as well.

Matt gave a perplexed look. "What are you guys talking about?"

Both Digimon shook their heads. "Never mind." Both said in unison. There was a brief moment of laughter from everyone else in the room.

"But going back to the matter at hand," Izzy started. "If Kari was sent to the Dark Ocean, we are in a very dire position."

"What do you mean?" Yolei asked.

"Remember what Azulongmon told us? The powers of Hope and Light are instrumental in keeping the Digital World safeguarded. Also, they possess supernatural powers that go beyond our current understandings of their affect on the world. With both of them gone and if we're assuming the worst of the situation, then things aren't looking too well for us."

Ken got up from his seat. "Izzy's right. We have to find a way to the Dark Ocean."

"What about Kari?" Gatomon asked. The poor feline had a look full of concern and misery over the loss of her partner. "We have to look for her first!"

"Gatomon's right." Sora added. "I don't think we can just assume that Kari was taken by the Dark Ocean just yet. We still have to search the Digital World."

Tai nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Let's go right now."

"Whoa, let's wait a minute." Joe budded in. "Shouldn't we wait until tomorrow to search? I mean, it is three thirty in the morning. I think resting up would be a good idea."

"I can't sleep with the thought of knowing that Kari's missing. You guys can go home and rest; I'm going to the Digital World and--" Before Tai could finish his sentence, a bright pink light shined in the living room. All of the Digidestined and Digimon were caught off guard by the display and were startled by it. The light continued to shine until it started to take form into the shape of a portal. The gateway shined brightly as a pink aura seethed out of it.

"W-what is that???" Cody exclaimed with awe.

"It's so pretty…" Biyomon commented as well.

While everyone marveled at the portal, Izzy quickly took out this lap-top. "I'm analyzing it right now…" After a moment of furious typing, the computer whiz kid sighed. "I'm getting no readings on it; whatever it is, it's out of my analyzer's database. What I can tell you is that it is emitting a very powerful surge of energy."

"It looks like a portal…where do you think it leads to?" Sora asked out loud.

Tai ignored the question and kept staring at the pink portal. He found himself caught in a trance-like state, dazed by the brilliant light before him. He could almost feel the gateway calling out to him, reaching for him. It was as if…

"Kari…" The goggle head boy whispered. He turned to his fellow Digidestined. "This portal will lead us to Kari!"

Everyone gave him a befuddled look. "How can you be sure of that, Tai?" Davis asked.

With a stern and concentrated look on his face, the bearer of Courage simply replied, "Trust me…I just know." With that, he turned to the portal. He waited a moment and with a sigh of determination, he stepped towards it.

"Tai!" He heard various people call out. However, he ignored them and kept walking towards the bright illumination ahead of him. When he was close enough, Tai turned to the rest. "I'm going in after Kari. You guys can follow me if you want." With that, he continued to walk forward until he disappeared in the pink light.

"Tai!!!" Agumon yelled. The Digimon got up and ran after his counterpart without a second thought. Soon, Agumon disappeared as well.

Everyone else stayed still, unsure of what to make of the situation. Matt growled a bit and quickly got up. "If this leads to Kari, I'm sure we'll find TK as well. Gabumon! Are you coming?"

His Digimon was already up. "I'm right behind you, Matt."

"I'm coming too!" Patamon flew onto Matt's shoulder. The blonde nodded at the two of them and all three of them entered the portal.

Izzy shook his head. "But we don't know if it'll lead us to Kari! For all we know it could be a trap!"

"Sometimes you have to think with your heart and not your head, Izzy!" Davis exclaimed. "I'm going too!"

"Me too." Sora got up. Soon, all of the Digidestined and their Digimon found themselves up and ready to enter into the unknown. Izzy hesitated as he bit his lower lip. However, the young genius got up as well, just as determined as his friends around them.

"Alright, let's do it." He proclaimed. One by one, the Digidestined entered the portal, disappearing, all of them uncertain of what lied ahead of them. After all of them entered, the portal dissipated, leaving the living room completely empty.

Moments later, a bedroom door opened and a much older man's head popped out.

"Honey, what _was_ all that noise?" A female voice could be heard from the bedroom.

"I don't know." The man scratched his head in confusion. "There's nothing here."

"Are the kids up?"

He looked around and saw that both of their respective bedroom doors were closed. "I think Tai and Kari are still sleeping, honey."

"Well…if it's nothing, come back to bed then."

The Kamiya father scanned the living room once more. "Alright. But I wonder what all that commotion was?"


	11. Chapter 10: Conflicts

**Chapter 10**

As Kari waited for the blast that would be her end, she noticed that there was a pause. When the pause extended, she opened her eyes to see why TK hadn't attacked her yet. Right when she did, she noticed that a pink light shined from her body, radiating brightly in the bleak Dark Ocean. Daemon was looking at her with great interest while TK was holding the energy gathered in his hand. The ray coming from within her continued its display as Kari went a sudden warm surge throughout her from it.

Then, out of nowhere, a portal opened up beside her. The rift was glowing with pink energy, just like the brunette's body. It looked like the exact same portal that had transported her to the Dark Ocean. As she gaped in awe of the awesome radiance before her, she couldn't help but feel a little mystified.

"Very interesting." Daemon commented. "So, one of the powers that the bearer of Light possesses is the ability to open gateways to different worlds. That would explain how she was able to get here in the first place."

She was able to open portals to different worlds? Kari could hardly believe that the rifts were her doing; she was just as surprised as anyone else was with their sudden appearances. But then again, the illuminating pink aura that she and the portals were emitting both seemed to be of the same source. However, the brunette hadn't consciously summoned the portals to open. Maybe she had opened it subconsciously, she thought. If that was the case then that meant that she had no real control over what was happening.

Before Kari's thoughts could continue, a figure appeared out of the portal. Never in her life did the young girl think that the sight of a pair of goggles with wild brown hair could bring so much joy.

"Tai!!!"

Her older brother turned to her and she could see an overwhelming expression of relief on his face. He immediately rushed over to her, hugging her tightly as if he hadn't seen her for years.

"Kari…" He whispered as he continued to cradle her. "I was so worried about you!" The embrace brought so much joy in the young brunette that she could feel tears forming.

Their moment didn't last long as another figure popped out of the portal. Kari's eyes lit up even more. "Agumon!"

Slowly, one by one, each of her fellow Digidestined and their Digimon came out, all of which had an alleviating expression as they saw her. Gatomon firmly hugged Kari when the two were reunited.

"Don't ever disappear like that on me. I think I lost one of my nine lives stressing about you." The feline said.

Kari chuckled. "I'm sorry Gatomon…"

"What a touching moment." All of the Digidestined averted their attention to Daemon. "Almost brought tears to my eyes."

"_Daemon_…" Davis growled.

"TK?" Kari heard Matt exclaim. Matt's face went from shock to exuberant happiness as the realization that his brother was alive hit him.

"TK!!!" Patamon flew as fast as he could towards his partner. Matt, overwhelmed with swirling emotions, followed as well.

"NO!" Kari yelled after them. "DON'T!!!"

The two of them ignored her plea. They continued to run towards the beloved TK, not noticing the dark aura that had surrounded him. The aura grew as the two figures approached him. Kari watched in horror as both Patamon and Matt were hit with a wave of darkness, causing both of them to cry out in pain. They were lofted in the air while the energy continued to surge throughout their bodies. Eventually, both of them were thrown back as they landed in the sand, causing debris of sand to form due to the impact.

"MATT!" Gabumon rushed over to his partner. Matt was still for a moment but he slowly got up, his body twitching from the pain. Patamon, however, was unconscious on the ground.

All of the Digidestined were too shock to move. Kari could only imagine what was going through their heads after witnessing such a terrifying moment.

"Oh my god…" Mimi gasped.

"W-what just…happened?" Yolei stuttered.

Kari was just as silent as the rest. She didn't know how to break the news to her friends. Luckily, she didn't have to as Daemon's laughter echoed throughout the beachfront.

"Foolish Digidestined. That's what you get for rushing head-on towards my new solider of darkness." He sneered. "That's right! Your old sweet friend that once was the Digidestined of Hope is now the ultimate weapon against the forces of good."

Tai angrily turned his attention towards Daemon. "What are you talking about?!"

"Did I not make myself clear? Fine, I'll make it even simpler for you all to comprehend: He is _mine_ now. He wields the same powers of darkness as I do. Only with him, his strength surpasses even my own. He is truly your doom, Digidestined." With that, the demon Digimon bellowed out in laughter once again.

"No…" Matt got up, still shaking from the vicious attack he had just endured. "NO! I don't believe you!!!"

"Whether you believe me or not is irrelevant. All that matter is the sad ironic truth; that you will be destroyed by the one you once loved."

"No…no no no no NO!" The Digidestined of Friendship yelled out in anguish. A fiery anger filled his eyes. "Gabumon! Digivolve! NOW!"

A bright blue lit surrounded Gabumon and, moments later, he had transformed into MetalGarurumon.

"GO DESTORY DAEMON!"

With that order, the metallic Digimon flew up in the sky and released numerous amounts of missiles at his demonic opponent. However, TK formed a ball of energy in his hand and shot it at the incoming attack. The black ball impacted with all of the missiles causing a massive explosion.

MetalGarurumon, undeterred from his failed attempt, flew downward towards Daemon at an unmatched speed. However, before the Digimon could get close enough to attack, TK raised his hand towards him. MetalGarurumon was stopped in midair as he yelped in shock. The blonde slowly started to clench his hand into a fist and as he did, the poor Digimon cried out more and more in uncontrollable pain. Finally, TK threw his arm forward, sending MetalGarurumon flying backwards into the ground.

While many of the Digidestined watched in horror from the fight, Matt relentlessly ran forward, fists raised at Daemon. TK noticed this and pointed at his incoming brother. An invisible flow of energy hit Matt head on and had him thrown back as well.

"Matt! MetalGarurumon!" Sora yelled out. She ran over to the two battered fighters.

"Damn it!" Davis exclaimed in frustration. "What do we do???"

Tai bit his lower lip as he quickly thought of the situation. "We need a plan."

Izzy nodded. "Tai's right. We can't rush into this or else, we'll be in big trouble."

"But what do we do? TK's too powerful." Joe commented in concern.

"Here's what we'll do." The Digidestined of Courage started to explain. "We have to digivolve all our Digimon to their strongest form. Then, we'll split up; Davis, Ken, Mimi, and Joe will distract TK while Kari, Sora, Yolei, Cody, Izzy, and I will attack Daemon."

"Oh yes." Daemon chuckled. "Please, digivolve your Digimon! Have them all at full strength! That way when your precious TK crushes them, you'll all finally see how powerful he really is!"

Tai gave an angry look at the powerful Digimon. "Alright guys. Be careful. Both of them are very dangerous so--"

"No…" Everyone turned their attention to Matt, who had Sora helping him get up. "No." He repeated. "We are _not _attacking TK."

There was a brief silence. Tai gave his friend a sympathetic look. "Matt…we have no choice. We can't fight Daemon if---"

"I SAID NO!" The blonde yelled back. He grinded his teeth as some of the pain shot through his body. "You are not going to hurt him. I won't allow it." MetalGarurumon got up and stood next to his partner, reinforcing his statement.

Kari could tell the tension was very high amongst the group. None of them knew what to do or what to make of the situation. Personally, she sided with Matt; her older brother was obviously right and his plan made sense but she just couldn't bring herself to actually attack TK. It just wasn't an action she could go through with.

Daemon looked on with an amusement in his eyes. "Not willing to fight? Well, this is no fun; I was expecting it to be somewhat entertaining. Oh well, looks like we'll just have to destroy you pesky Digidestined quickly and move on."

TK slowly began to approach the group of Digidestined. Matt and MetalGarurumon turned around to face him.

"TK!" Matt yelled, "It's me! Your brother! Snap out of it!"

The younger Ishida boy didn't reply. Instead, a ray of dark power from the surrounding aura shot out towards Matt. MetalGarurumon got in the way and took the impact of the blow. When the smoke cleared out, Gabumon laid still on the sandy ground, unconscious as Matt looked on in horror.

"Gabumon!" He bent over to check if his loyal companion was ok.

Izzy let out a small yell of frustration. "This is hopeless! We can't do anything right now given our current state!"

"What do you suggest we do then???" Mimi countered.

The Digidestined of Knowledge focused his eyes as he analyzed the situation. "Our best course of action is to retreat. We retreat and regroup so that we'll be in better shape next time we face Daemon."

Davis kept staring at the demonic Digimon with a snarl on his face. "If you know how to get out of here, I'm all ears, Izzy."

TK kept walking towards them, slowly inching himself towards them. "Hurry Izzy! TK's getting closer!" Cody yelled.

The red-haired boy ran his hands through his hair. "Come on, Izzy, think…think…" He muttered to himself. Then, suddenly, his face lit up. He quickly turned to Kari. "Kari! You can get us out of here!"

The brunette gave Izzy a befuddled look. "Me? How?"

"The portal! Summon the portal again!"

"Izzy…I don't know how though." Kari shook her head. "Those portals aren't under my control. I'm not sure how I'm creating them."

"Kari, you have to try! Otherwise we're all going to meet our demise! Come on, Kari! You're the Child of Light! Just channel your feelings and use them to create a portal out of here!"

The brunette bit her lower lip in concern. "Alright…I'll try."

Tai nodded in encouragement. "Great. While you do that, the rest of us will try to buy you some time." He turned to Agumon. "Agumon…be ready to digivolve."

His Digimon gave him a particular look. "Are we going to actually attack TK?"

The Digidestined of Courage gave no response at first. Finally he stated, "I'm just saying…be ready."

Kari closed her eyes and desperately tried to think of a way to summon a portal. She thought back to the two times she had done so; she didn't even really recall anything special happening prior to the opening of the rifts. The first time she had done it was in the park while she was walking. The second time was right before she was about to get attacked. The correlation between the two events was small if anything the brunette realized. Then, she tried thinking deeper. Maybe her feelings were what triggered the event, she thought to herself. When she was walking around in the park, her thoughts were about TK and finding him before the portal had opened. The second time, her last thought was on her brother and how she wished she could see him once more.

Kari realized that she had a small clue. While the connection between the two was weak, it was still a connection and the only thing she could come up with. With time of the essence, the brunette decided to take a chance and follow her instincts. Kari closed her eyes and focused her thoughts on Odaiba and how badly she wished to be there at the moment. She pictured the beautiful park, the tall buildings, the local markets, her apartment complex, and all the other things that made up the city. She focused on her desire to go back to her home city and tried to channel it. As she imagined these things, a sudden warmth ran through her body. She opened her eyes only to see the bright pink aura surrounding her once again. Even though this was the third time it had happened, the brunette couldn't help but still be in a sense of awe over the display.

"Kari! Hurry!" Sora yelled. TK's own black aura was growing as he got closer to the group.

The Digidestined of Light could feel the energy of the pink aura surge throughout her body. Unlike the last two times, she actually felt like she was in somewhat control over the phenomenal power. Kari took a deep breath and focused again. As she did, the power of Light rushed even more inside her; it was as if it was in her blood, flowing along causing a tingling sensation. Kari continued to focus and, much to her own surprise, a small bright rift started to open in front of her. Not wanting to lose her progress, she kept her concentration and as she did, the small rift grew larger and larger until finally it transformed into the portal that she was trying to summon.

Kari let out a sigh of relief. Breathing deeply, she stared at what she had created; it was amazing to her that she could do such a thing. Even though she was told earlier she possessed great power, it never truly processed in her mind nor did it ever cross her mind to be actually wielding it. However, she knew she could not stand around and marvel at the pink portal before her.

The brunette turned to the rest of the group. "You guys! It's open!"

"Prodigious." Izzy responded. "Now, let's hurry and leave this place before anything bad happens!"

"Let's go!!!" Tai yelled. All of the Digidestined ran backwards as TK continued his march. Mimi and Palamon were the first to enter. Yolei and Hawkmon followed suit.

"Sora!!! Let's get out of here!" Tai yelled. Sora was helping Matt and Gabumon reach the portal. She also had the unconscious Patamon in her arms. Tai immediately rushed over to help his best friend and girlfriend to their destination. When they did, he quickly motioned the Digidestined of Love to the entrance of the portal.

"We're all right behind you so hurry!" He told her. Sora nodded and, with Biyomon and Patamon, disappeared into the rift.

"Destroy them!" Daemon ordered. Following this command, TK shot a ray of darkness towards the rest of the group. Kari saw it and, without hesitation, started focusing her own powers within her once again.

The dark beam continued its course but before it could hit the Digidestined's location, it was stopped; it seemed like it had collided with some invisible barrier that was shielding off the attack.

Kari, still fixated, yelled, "TAI! Get everyone through!"

Her older brother nodded in confirmation. He started to herd everyone towards the portal and, one by one, each of the Digidestined safely made their way into the exit until eventually, it was only Tai, Agumon, Kari, and Gatomon left.

"Tai! You need to go through too!"

The Digidestined of Courage hesitated. When Kari saw this, she shouted, "I'm trying to hold off the attack but I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up!"

Tai was torn. He didn't want to leave his younger sister behind but if he didn't hurry, he wouldn't make it. "Alright! But you follow after me, ok???"

The brunette nodded. With that, her brother grabbed hold of Agumon and Gatomon as he made his way into the portal. Before they entered, Kari heard Gatomon yell, "You better come back, Kari!" Soon, they were gone just like the others.

The Digidestined of Light relaxed a bit and as soon as she did, the dark energy ray broke through her barrier and made its way towards her. She ran out of the way, barely dodging the deadly attack. The explosion and shockwave from the ray caused Kari to lose balance and fall onto the sand. She quickly got up and saw that the portal was still open. The brunette then turned her attention to TK and Daemon, both who were getting closer but still too far away to stop her from entering the pink portal. Facing the portal, Kari took a deep breath. With a couple steps, she could be safe and finally away from such nightmare she was currently in.

"I'm sorry, Tai." She whispered. With that, the Digidestined of Light started to focus once again. Through her concentration, the pink portal before her slowly closed until it disappeared from the Dark Ocean. With her exit gone, Kari slowly turned around to face her two assailants.

Daemon gave a bemused look. "Well, well, well. This is an unexpected surprise."

Kari kept her composure despite the fact, deep inside, she was scared and unsure of what she was doing. She clenched her fists as she fixated herself on the young blonde before her. Kari had come to the Dark Ocean to find and bring back TK. And she wasn't leaving until she did.


	12. Chapter 11: A World's End

**Chapter 11**

"So, you think just because you've started to understand your powers that you have a chance at defeating us?" Daemon coldly remarked.

Kari stood her ground firmly. "I'm not leaving without TK."

This caused the Digimon to bellow out in laughter. The laughter echoed throughout the desolated beach with a sharp ring.

"Oh yes! Please, by all means, do try to reach out to your poor friend. It'll be more entertaining than actually destroying you."

The young girl ignored his sarcasm. Instead, she focused on TK. "TK…" she started to plea. "Do you remember me? I know you know who I am. Please…"

Another laugh resounded as the blonde did not respond.

Kari sighed. "I'm not going to fight you, TK."

"This is too much!" Daemon darkly exclaimed. "Your ignorance knows no boundary, does it? My poor naïve child; I already told you, didn't I? He no longer recalls _anything _from his previous life! The only thing that is engraved in his mind is that he is now an agent of chaos as my servant! But please, do continue. I am having so much _fun_ watching this."

"TK…" The brunette could feel the tears coming up again but this time, she fought them; she would not be weak. She needed to be strong if she truly wanted to accomplish her goal. "Please! Remember all of our adventures? Our time together as friends? The memories we promised ourselves we would hold onto and cherish??? Please, try to remember!"

Again, no response. The only thing the Digidestined of Light could hear was the endless crashing waves of the Dark Ocean.

"_Daemon…_" A sinister and raspy voice boomed. Confused and somewhat startled, she looked around to see the source of the outcry. It definitely wasn't Daemon's as his voice was different from the one that just echoed.

"_Daemon…"_ It repeated. "_What are you doing? Stop wasting time and destroy the girl! With the Child of Light gone, the Digital World and all other worlds will have no chance defending our attack and will bow down to our eventual arrival! Finish her off and continue with the mission…That is an order from the other Lords._"

Daemon, who was looking up at the bleak sky, nodded. "Yes, of course." He then turned his attention to the brunette. "Well, you heard him. I'm sorry I have to end such an amusing moment but, like I said before, we have many things to do." He patted TK on the shoulder. Afterwards, he levitated himself from the ground, hovering over the two humans. "Kill her."

The blonde raised his left arm. The dark aura illuminating from TK grew as he charged a condense ball of energy in his raised palm. There was no remorse in his eyes. Only cold determination.

Kari simply stood still. While her mind was screaming at her to move and run, her heart's fortitude left her calm. "I'm not going to fight you, TK. And I'm not going to run. If this is how it has to end…fine. I'd rather die than watch you continue down the path of evil."

The young girl watched as the energy ball in TK's palm grew. As he prepared for his final blow, a small tear ran down the brunette's face. It wasn't a tear of fear or overwhelming emotions. Nor was it because of the thought of her unavoidable death or the pain that would follow. The tear originated due to sadness; sadness that the person she trusted and cared for most had ended up in the state he was in.

"I'm sorry, TK…" Kari whispered as she stood still. "I'm sorry…and…_I love you_."

A moment passed. It was the longest moment in the girl's life. The surging energy in TK's hand was still there as she waited for it to leave his hand and make its way towards her. However, the moment extended longer. The pause continued and nothing happened, as if time itself was in a stalemate.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Destroy her!" Daemon ordered.

To Kari's shock, the energy formed in TK's palm did not grow or unleash itself; instead, it shrunk. It grew smaller and smaller until eventually it disappeared. The young boy's raised arm slowly made its way down. Kari, confused, looked at TK. While his eyes still carried the presence of darkness in it, there was a small glimmer of cerulean in them as well.

"Kari…?" He muttered. The brown haired girl was amazed. Him simply uttering her name made her heart jump and caused butterflies in her stomach.

"What are you doing?!" An angry Daemon barked. "I told you to destroy her! You are _my _servant and will do exactly as I tell you to!"

TK sharply looked up at the demon Digimon. His piercing eyes gave a cold stare. Kari noticed that the dark aura around the blonde started up again as the ball of energy reappeared in his hand.

"I…am…not…your…_servant_." He snarled. With that, he threw the condensed energy up at the floating Digimon.

Daemon, equally as shocked as Kari was, barely dodged the attack as it skimmed past his head.

"You ungrateful little--" Before he could finish however, the dark Digimon noticed a shadow was casting over him. Confused, he turned around only to see that the energy ball TK had thrown was suspended above Daemon and was growing in size rapidly. As he looked on in awe, the overgrown ball swiftly came down on him. However, right as it got close enough, the energy ray split into hundreds of smaller and elongated forms. The endless dark beams continued its course downward until they all pierced into Daemon, shredding through his body like a million knives.

Once the onslaught was over, Daemon was still levitated in the air. His body had multiple slashes over it and darkness started to seep out of the wounds.

"Such…power…" He remarked quietly. "Such…_beautiful_…power." His form started to shrivel away and, with that, Daemon faded to his death, ending the terrible reign of the evil Digimon.

A brief moment of silence passed. Kari was still trying process what had just happened before her. TK on the other hand turned his body so that he was facing the young girl. The brunette eventually made eye contact with him.

"TK…?" She wasn't sure if she was talking to the dark and corrupted TK or the old, optimistic, and hopeful TK she knew.

The blonde nodded. "Kari."

Hearing her name again caused the brunette to be overwhelmed with joy and happiness.

"TK!!!" She ran towards him. When she got to the young boy, she firmly embraced him, hugging tightly. Kari found herself crying out of happiness as she buried her face in his chest.

The emotion filled girl looked up to see that the once menacing look the Digidestined of Hope wore was replaced with a more endearing and caring one. Seeing this only further fueled her ecstasy.

"Kari…" TK started. "I'm…so sorry. I'm so sorry for everything. I must have caused you so much pain…"

"Shhh…" She quietly replied. "It's ok…All that matters now is that you're back." With that said, Kari snuggled her head, soaking in the warmth of her best friend's body.

Their moment continued. As Kari continued to cry softly, TK continued to hold on to her dearly, comforting her through it all. Neither one of them said a word as words were no longer needed. They simply stood still, cherishing the moment between two people that loved one another.

Eventually, TK broke the embrace slightly. He looked at Kari with great care. "Kari…you have to leave this place."

The Digidestined of Light gave him a confused look. "You're coming too, right?" He let go of the girl, took a step back, and turned around.

"I don't know if I can…"

"Why?"

"I've done…so many evil deeds…"

"TK!" Kari scolded. "The others will forgive you! They'll understand just like I do! We all know you didn't turn to the darkness on your own will."

The blonde turned back, facing the Digidestined of Light. His face was filled with sadness and regret. "You don't understand…" He looked up at the sky. "I attacked Matt, Gabumon, even Patamon...God, I even tried to kill you."

Kari knew where this was going. Before he could say anymore, she again embraced the young boy in her arms. "It's ok, TK! None of that matters right now! What matters is that you're ok again."

"Look at me, Kari. I've…changed. The darkness that I hated so much has now become a part of me."

"You can get rid of it!"

TK shook his head. "I don't think I can. I feel like it's burned into my soul. Like a permanent mark in my life now."

"TK…don't do this. Please don't push me away. I don't want to lose you again." Kari whispered.

"Can I really go back to life the way it was? I've done some terrible things…Can I forgive myself for all of this?"

Kari took her hand and gently placed it on the blonde's face. "Yes…you can. You're strong, TK. You'll bounce back from everything. You always have. If there's one thing I learned from being with you is that, you always manage to find a way. So please…Come back. For me."

Their eyes were locked on each other. Neither one of them broke the gaze. Finally, the blonde boy closed his eyes and gave a small smile. "Ok. For you, Kari."

Those four words allowed the smaller girl to sigh in immense relief. She cuddled closer to TK. "Thank you." She then looked up at her counterpart. "Let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps."

TK chuckled. "Yeah…me too." Then his face turned solemn. "But first…"

He let go of Kari and took a couple steps forward. "But first, I need to do something."

"What is it?" The brunette quizzically asked.

TK maintained his stone hard expression. "I'm going to destroy this world."

"You can do that?"

He gave her a sad smile. "Yeah, I can. And I have to." He then looked up at the sky. "This forsaken place is filled with too many evils. And there are others like Daemon that dwells here. Others that is even more dangerous than even Daemon. If they keep existing and have their way, there's no telling what they'll do. I'm not going to allow that." He turned to her. "Take a step back, Kari." The brunette did as she was told.

TK then let out a deep sigh and closed his eyes. The dark spirit surrounding the blonde grew, illuminating more and more with each passing moment. It grew so much so that it started to ensnare the skies. As it grew, Kari could sense a terrible power emerging from it.

Like a wild fire, the aura started lashing out as it surged throughout TK's body. Precautious, Kari took a couple more steps back. Eventually, the young boy's entire body was radiating with the darkness, to the point where he seemed to be completely engulfed by it.

A large creak echoed throughout the Dark Ocean. The beach started to tremble as TK continued his powerful emission of his energy. All the while, he kept up his efforts as the aura continued to expand even further. Soon, it looked like a giant black ember with TK in the middle of it.

Kari could tell TK was struggling. It was as if he was trying to summon a great force from within him and was trying so hard to contain it. After a while, the Digidestined of Hope let out a long and loud yell and as he did, all of the massive energy circling him shot out in all directions, sending wild and powerful rays throughout the Dark Ocean.

"TK!!!" Kari yelled. The rays kept coming out of him and sprawling around freely. Then, Kari noticed something different; as the powers of darkness continued to surge, she saw a yellow light. The light was small at first but quickly it grew larger and larger. The gold radiance started to mix with the dark energy as if to assimilate. However, Kari realized that the brighter aura was actually overcoming the dark one until eventually TK was completely surrounded by the aura. It radiated off of him like a gold beacon. That energy also shot out in different directions, scintillating the bleak background of the Dark Ocean.

"The powers of Hope…" Kari gasped as she witnessed everything unfold. The golden brilliance left her at awe over its magnificence and beauty. She could also sense a great deal of power from it. It was sight that left her in so much amazement that she didn't even notice it dying out, leaving TK, who was sprawled over the sand.

Snapping herself out of it, she ran over to the boy's body. He was unconscious, exhausted from releasing so much energy from his body.

"TK…" She tried to wake him up. "Get up…TK…" But before she could continue, a large tremble shook the ground. Kari stood still, unsure of what to expect next. Then, suddenly, the ground beneath her started to crack. The constant waves started to roar as the earthquake grew worse and worse. Lightning struck the skies as it seemed Armageddon had begun for the Dark Ocean.

Kari tried her best to maintain her balance but it was getting harder and harder. The sand beneath her gave out as the ground split more ferociously and more violent than before. The entire world started to shake. Panicking, she continued her attempt to wake up the blonde.

"TK!!! TK!!!" She screamed at him. "Get up!!! We have to get out of here!" The shaking threw the young girl back after a while. Worried, Kari got up. She closed her eyes and started to imagine Odaiba city once more. Concentrating as hard as she could, Kari was trying to force herself to open a portal. A pink aura illuminated from her until finally, after what seemed like hours, a small rift appeared. It grew but was taking awfully slow; the brunette silently cursed herself to speed up the process. As the world around her started to fall apart, the portal finally took full form.

Not taking any breaks, Kari bent over and threw TK over her shoulders. As she struggled to carry the boy and herself to the portal, the Dark Ocean was finally giving out. The ground was breaking all over, making it extremely difficult for her to keep her balance. She could hear massive explosions behind her. Debris of earth and sand were wildly floating in the air causing her vision to diminish. When she got close enough, Kari summoned all of her physical strength to throw herself and TK into the portal.

Before she fully escaped the destruction of the world behind her, a small but still echoing voice whispered, "_The balance of order has already been tampered. It would be so much better if everything could just start all over...Wouldn't you agree, TK?_"

After that, everything became white.


	13. Chapter 12: Almost Back to Normal

**Chapter 12**

The Odaiba High gym was packed with restless and energetic students. Random yelling and loud cheering filled up the air while a basketball game was underway in the middle of the gym. It was a close game with neither team having too much of an edge over the other. As the game dwindled down, the crowd grew louder and louder. So intense was the atmosphere that the gym itself was actually shaking from all the commotion. However, this did not deter the large body of kids; instead, it gave them all the more reason to be more deafening. Everyone screamed, cheered, booed, and howled as if trying to defy the very nature of the sound barrier. Fueled with passion and school pride, every second of the game was a challenge and opportunity to support their home team. Amongst all this ruckus and high emotions was Kari who was sitting somewhere in the crowd, lost in the sea of uniforms.

She watched with as much interest and intensity as her peers. However, she maintained her composure a little bit better than them; she still was cheering and rooting for her school but not with as much ecstatic enthusiasm and outward display as the others. Despite this, her support was just as strong as everyone else's.

While the game itself was entertaining and exciting, Kari's attention was on a particular blonde player who was in the game. He was sweating and running around on the court, giving his all to the game at hand. He was dribbling, passing, scoring, and most importantly, living the moment of everything that was happening around him, just like he used did. This very thought made Kari smile.

It had been almost a month since she and TK escaped the destruction of the Dark Ocean. The two of them explained everything to the others and was followed by many hugs and emotional moments. Through it all, TK repeatedly tried to apologize to everyone, only to be fiercely dismissed. Never did any of them place any blame on the young boy; they simply were relieved that he was finally ok.

The Digital World was safe once again. The Digidestined explained their adventures to Azulongmon and Gennai both of who were equally relieved that everything was ok. It turned out that the reason why the band of kids couldn't contact Azulongmon was because of TK; while under the influence of Daemon, the blonde had mystically imprisoned the mighty Guardian from the Digital World, sending him and all the other Guardians into a limbo state. TK further explained that it was part of Daemon's plan to return to the Digital World he was exiled from long ago. Hearing that story truly opened up everyone's eyes to the extent of TK's powers. Regardless, no one thought much of it, with the exception of TK who was remorseful of his actions, as they were all simply glad he was safe.

Celebration followed after. The vivid image of Mimi singing on the karaoke machine while everyone else pretended to enjoy it along with the heart-warming toast and games they all played together brought a sense of happiness to Kari. The comradery of the group of friends and the liveliness of the atmosphere was truly missed, in the brunette's opinion. For too long had the Digidestined been shadowed with grief, turmoil, and tension; with the whole kidnapping fiasco behind them, it was nice to see them all together as friends once again.

After that, everything started to go back to normal. Everyone lived their daily lives as if nothing had happened. At school, TK had to explain how he got "sick" for over 3 weeks but had somehow recovered just fine. Remarkably, everyone at school believed him. Soon, concerns like saving the Digital World, protecting each other from harm, and kidnappings were replaced with concerns like school gossip, the winter dance that was coming up quickly, and other mundane topics. It was a change that Kari appreciated to the fullest.

Kari snapped out of her daze and paid attention to the game. Odaiba was down by one with only twelve seconds to go. The other team had the ball and was trying to throw the ball inbounds. As the ball was thrown to a player, TK sprinted and intercepted the pass. However, he took an elbow in the mouth as soon as he did. A whistle was blown and the other team was assessed with an offensive foul.

The brunette was a bit worried for her friend; TK was holding onto his jaw in slight pain. Then, his expression grew serious as Kari could tell his intensity increased. It seemed the blow had awakened a fiery competitive spirit within the blonde. Suddenly, much to the brunette's concern, she noticed a very small aura of black energy radiating from the Digidestined of Hope. However, it disappeared quickly and luckily everyone else was too into the game to notice such a minuscule event. When she saw the aura disappear, a sense of alleviation and easement filled her up.

When the game resumed, TK had the ball in his hands. He waited patiently for the time to wind down. Finally, when the timer had hit the five second mark, he focused, made his way past his defender, and shot a jumper. As the ball floated in the air, the game clock went off, signaling the end of the game. Everyone held their breath and amazingly, there was a brief moment of silence.

The shot went in. As soon as it did, the entire stadium exploded in jubilee and uproar. Students were all up on their feet, loudly cheering such heroic act. TK was overwhelmed by his teammates who had all jumped on him out of excitement and glee. With the game over, everyone from the bleachers tried to make their way onto the center court, trying to congratulate the blonde for winning the game. Kari got up from her seat, and with a small smile, made her way out of the hectic gymnasium. If everything was back to normal as she knew it, the brunette would eventually find her own time to congratulate her friend.

* * *

Sure enough, as Kari waited in the front of the school an hour past the game, she saw TK walking over to her. She smiled at the sight of him.

"Hey." She greeted.

"Hey you," TK replied back. "Ready to go back home?"

Kari's smile grew bigger. "Whenever you are."

The two of them walked down the concrete, side by side as the sun set before them. As they did, Kari couldn't help herself from saying what was on her mind.

"So…did you enjoy your moment of attention in the gym?" She teased.

TK blushed. "Wow Kari…still up to your old dirty tricks, I see."

The brunette giggled. "They're not tricks! I was simply asking if you enjoyed your normal dosage of fame!" She couldn't help but giggle again as the blonde blushed even more from her comment. "I bet the fan girls were really riled up this time…"

"Alright, alright. You had your fun." He mumbled. Eventually, both of them ended up laughing about the whole matter.

"I missed this." The young girl stated.

TK gave her a confused look. "Missed what?"

"Missed _this_. Enjoying life together. I feel like we haven't done this in a while."

"I know what you mean…"

The brunette was unsure of how to phrase her next train of thought. "TK?"

"Yeah?"

"I don't know if you noticed or not but…I think I saw an aura around you today during your game."

The boy nodded. "I know…" He sighed. "I guess whenever my emotions get too fiery or too intense, it comes out subconsciously. I need to work on controlling that." TK turned to the young girl. "Do you think anyone noticed?"

She shook her head. "No, I don't think so. I think everyone was too into the game to notice. And besides, it was small and short."

TK nodded slightly. They were making their way past Odaiba park. As they did, Kari noticed that TK was rather quiet. Recently, his thoughts seemed to take over at times, she noticed. He would space out, caught up in his mind over things that Kari knew she wouldn't understand.

"Hey!" The exclamation from the brunette startled TK.

"Yeah?"

"Let's go sit on a bench in the park."

The blonde gave a bemused look towards his counterpart. She in turn gave him an innocent smile. Then, she playfully grabbed the boy's hand and guided him into the park. TK couldn't help but chuckle as he played along.

They jogged across the open field and found a bench nearby. However, before they could make their way to sit down, Kari paused.

"What's wrong, Kari?" TK asked.

"Oh my!" She pointed to the distance where two people, a boy and a girl, were sitting on a bench.

The girl had long lavender hair and had glasses, from what TK could make out, while the boy had raven black hair and was rather lanky. After a minute, he recognized the two of them; it was Yolei and Ken. He was about to yell at them to catch their attention until he noticed something that completely sent the blonde into shock: Ken had his arms wrapped around Yolei.

TK's jaw dropped a bit but before he could do anything else, Kari pulled him backwards and behind a shrub to hide. When they hid themselves, the Digidestined of Hope gave his friend a shocked look.

"Since when did..?"

Kari giggled. "Silly. Yolei has liked Ken for a long time now. I guess they got closer recently and Yolei finally told Ken how she felt about him." She was peeping through cracks within the shrub, trying to get a good look at the newly couple. "Aw. They're so cute. Look at them! They're so happy!"

TK took a look and, sure enough, the brunette was right; both of them truly looked happy with one another as they sat next to each other, enjoying the sunset before them. A smile formed on his face.

"You know," The blonde playfully scolded, "It's not polite to spy."

Kari looked up and returned a playful frown. "You're such a party pooper."

TK chuckled as her comment. "But seriously, let's leave them alone. I think they would want that."

"Oh, fine." With that, the two of them quietly got up from their hiding spot and made their way out of the park until they found themselves back on the sidewalk again.

The two of them chatted a bit about Ken and Yolei. Both agreed that they were happy for the two. As they continued to converse, they found themselves at Kari's apartment complex, slowly ending their little talk.

"I'm really glad everything is finally peaceful." Kari commented. She couldn't help herself; even though she had reached her destination, she wanted to talk more with the blonde.

TK nodded. "Yeah..."

"I mean, Tai and Matt aren't fighting anymore, Joe and Mimi are here in Japan, Davis is…Davis." They both laughed at the last statement. "Cody is starting to adapt to his new lifestyle. Yolei and Ken are together. Sora and Izzy are fine. And our Digimon can finally rest. It just seems so…nice."

"I agree. I think it's safe to say that everyone is enjoying their lives right now. Let's just hope nothing ruins this moment."

The brunette gave a soft smile. "I hope so too." There was a brief silence that followed. TK gave her a grin.

"You excited for the winter formal?"

Kari giggled. "Of course. I'm a girl; I've been preparing for this over a month ago."

"Oh really now?" TK said with amusement as he cocked his eyebrow. Kari nodded enthusiastically.

The blonde couldn't help but chuckle again at her child-like attitude. "I hope I don't disappoint you then." He added.

"You better not. Or they'll be severe consequences, Mr. Takaishi." Kari playfully threatened. Both of them ended up in laughter over the whole act.

"TK?"

"Hm?"

"I just wanted to say…" Kari looked down as she talked. "I'm so glad that you're ok."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…I wasn't sure how you would adjust to life after…what happened."

TK cleared his throat. "To be honest, I'm still adjusting. I'm not going to lie; the darkness still haunts me at times. It's on my mind a lot and…I can't seem to erase it. There are moments when I wonder if I'll ever be able to go back to everything as it was. I mean, I've changed. A lot. And I've been through some things that make me shutter just reliving again. But, the fact that I'm still able to go to school, participate, mingle with friends, play basketball, and just…live a normal life is a positive sign for me. It means I can still live my life. And for now I guess, I'll take that."

The brunette looked up to see that TK's eyes were solemn and a bit sad. They were back to his original blue eyes but despite that, she could see a hint of darkness in them. He was right when he said that he had changed.

"I know everything must have been tough for you. I can't even imagine what you've gone through. But…if there's any way I can help ease the transition, any way to do anything to make you feel more at ease, then please, TK; tell me." Kari softly requested.

TK gave her a long pensive look. He then smiled. He took a couple steps forward and gently hugged the brunette. He wrapped his arms around her slender frame, comforting her.

Kari embraced the blonde and cuddled to the warm hug. As he held her in his arms, time seemed to stop. The moment seemed to never end and it was exactly how she wanted it to be: eternal.

Eventually, TK let go slightly. He looked her in the eyes, both of them locked on to one another. He stroked her hair gently. "Thanks, Kari…for everything."

She didn't respond. Instead, she found herself inching closer and closer to TK. Taken over by her emotions, she tilted her head until the two of them were mere inches away from each other. Their lips drew close to one another until finally--.

"Hey Kari!"

TK and Kari quickly let go of one another, both blushing madly. Kari looked up to the source of the outcry and silently cursed; it was her brother. Typical for him to ruin a perfect moment.

"Hey Kari!" Tai repeated, completely oblivious to what he had interrupted. "You're just in time! I think I broke the dishwasher again so I was wondering if you could help me fix it! If mom finds out, I'll be in so much trouble! Oh, hey TK!"

The Digidestined of Hope politely waved with a grin. "Hi Tai!"

"Thanks for walking my little sister! You can never tell what will happen to young lonely girls nowadays."

Kari frowned. "I'll be right up!"

"Ok! Hurry! I think there's smoke coming from the machine! And I'm pretty sure that's not a good sign!"

The brunette sighed. She turned her attention to TK. Both of them were quiet as an awkwardness filled up the air.

"So…Um…I'll see you tomorrow?" Kari tried to kill the mood.

"Tomorrow? Where?"

"At school, right?"

"Oh, right. School." TK then had a perplexed look. "Wait…today's Friday."

Kari blushed. "Oh, is it?"

"Yeah…" Both of them laughed at the embarrassing moment. After their laughter died down, Kari started to head towards her apartment complex.

"I should go before Tai blows up the apartment. Again."

"Ok. I'll see you soon! Bye." TK waved.

The brunette smiled. "Bye!" She turned around and entered the elevator. As she replayed the whole scene over in her head, her face turned bright red from what had almost happened. She was so embarrassed over the situation. However, while she felt this way, Kari couldn't hide a small smile that had formed on her face. By the time the elevator reached the right floor, Kari's entire face was filled with the smile as she was upbeat and happy; not even Tai's mishap could ruin her mood.

* * *

TK watched as Kari entered the elevator, disappearing from his sight. He slowly grinned as he thought about what just occurred. Shaking his head while still grinning, he turned around and started walking towards his apartment complex.

For most of the walk, the blonde was in a good mood; the scene of him and Kari kept replaying in his head. However, towards the end, his mind started to wander. His experience in the Dark Ocean was definitely one that would be ingrained in him forever. He witnessed, underwent, and suffered through much but none was as impactful as a particular moment from the whole Dark Ocean incident.

"_The balance of order has already been tampered. It would be so much better if everything could just start all over...Wouldn't you agree, TK?_"

The statement kept reiterating itself over and over in his head since his escape from the Dark Ocean. It represented a dark moment in the blonde's life. TK had done many horrible things at the time of his conversion but something far worse haunted the blonde; it was his terrible regret, his burden, his grave mistake, and he didn't dare tell anyone of it.

TK stopped in his tracks. However, the thought of Kari seemed to soothe the guilt a little. Kari was truly his guiding light. If it wasn't for her, not only would he not be saved from a terrible life but also from self-damnation. She was the only reason why he was able to stay strong. She was the only reason he was able to make it through some days. Her chocolate colored eyes, soft chestnut brown hair, smooth skin, lovable personality…they all served as a reminder as to why to not give up. Deep down, TK wanted to be with her; not just as a friend but as a lover. The whole ordeal with the Dark Ocean simply made him realize how much he needed her in his life. How empty his world would be without her. He had already experienced life without her and, without a doubt, he never wanted to go through with it again.

The thoughts of Kari quickly overcame his previous thoughts, leaving TK in a good mood. He didn't notice but a bright yellow aura started to illuminate from his body. He himself was too distracted with the thoughts of a special young brunette and how she had saved him, not only from a doomed fate but also from himself. With that, he continued walking, a small smile on his face as the yellow aura grew larger and larger with every step.

T H E E N D


	14. Author's Note

**Author Note**

This story has definitely been a roller coaster ride; not only for me but for you readers as well. Many of you were probably sick of the lack of updates and many of you probably gave up on this story. And I don't blame you. Even I gave up on this story. With that said, I just want to repeat how sorry I am for all of this.

It's funny. Like I stated earlier in the intermission, I had dumped this story in limbo long ago. I was going through some personal issues that were affecting my writing abilities, frustrating me to no end. After a while, I just told myself to give up. Writing, at the time, wasn't important or at least not important enough for me to stress out about it. So, I left the story unfinished, abandoning my readers to an unsatisfactory end.

However, last week, I opened up my email account that was linked to my account for the first time in a long time; I discarded the email account for I had two others as my primaries. When I opened it, I skimmed through all the junk mail that I had accumulated over the past years. And when I did, something caught my attention that truly sent a wave of shock throughout my body; people were still reviewing this story! I was completely amazed. Amazed that even after such a long duration of time, viewers took their time to write an encouragement for me and the story. So, with that said, curiosity got the better of me and I opened my account again (I had such a hard time remembering the password). I opened up this story and read through the reviews. Seriously, guys, I was touched. The response that this story kept getting despite the fact it was discontinued was overwhelming to say the least. Many of you wrote that you hoped I would finish the story and that they would wait as long as it took for it to end. You may not realize this everyone but kind words like these make all the difference in life.

After realizing that my story had so many interest, I was determined to finish this fanfic. So, for the past week, I concentrated with all my might to complete my task and, as you can see, I succeeded. As soon as I did, a sense of relief and satisfaction swept me. I was happy that I finished this story, as if a chapter of my own life had finally come to a close. Looking back on it, this story really did deserve closure. I put a lot of heart and effort into it and many of you seemed to enjoy it so it only makes sense that it would have a fitting end, right? Unfortunately, that fitting end didn't come until long afterwards. But regardless, it was delivered. And I hope everyone realizes that it was because of you all that this was possible.

Anyways, this story was very interesting to write. The telling of the plot was a concern of mine and for good reason: as you can tell, I needed to write exceptionally well if I wanted to get across the plot of story. So, many times I found myself going back and deleting everything so that I can further enhance the scene. That was fun (Not really). The characters themselves were easy to portray; the anime itself already established their personalities so all I needed to do was expand on it. One of the problems with the characters I kept running into was distribution of story time for each character. Unfortunately, there are simply too many characters to focus on in the Digimon universe. While this was mainly a Takari fanfic, I tried my best to utilize the other characters as well in order to build a strong background.

As you can tell, the conflict in this story was pretty blatant; good versus evil. Light against dark. Typical themes that I chose to work around because it was safe. Also, I finished the story with a bit of an opening. An opening in the sense that, if I wanted to, I could come back and write a sequel to it. The reason for that would be because, while this story focused on the general focus of light versus dark, I would like to explore deeper into that theme. I find the conflicts of good and evil, the moral line between what is right and wrong, a fascinating topic that I would love to write about. It's a bit deeper philosophically speaking, but I think I can do it. How so? Through TK.

TK is my key to whether I'll write a sequel or not. Through TK, I now have the ability to write about something that isn't so clear-cut; as you all know, he now wields the powers of good and evil. While some of you may believe in absolutes, I believe everything has a balance and that things are not always what they seem. The difference between right and wrong, good and evil, is so small sometimes; one man's right can be another man's wrong. But who is to judge what is "right" and "wrong"? Society? Our own morals? Furthermore, while many of us perceive darkness in a bad connotation, isn't it true that light cannot exist without darkness and vice versa? All of these things interest me and I would love to write a story with these as my underlying themes. But, for that, only time will tell.

All in all, it certainly has been a joy writing this. Finishing it has somewhat sparked my passion for writing. Who knows? Maybe I'll post another story or two. And never update it until years later (Just kidding…I think). As of right now, I am on the fence on whether I should return to the literary world or leave this as the final story. I have some interesting concepts (as I stated above) I might want to write about but I don't want what happened to this story to happen again; I would feel too bad and regretful if it did.

My last message is for all of those who stuck by this story even when I didn't. Thank you. You are all the living example of where people like me find inspiration. If it wasn't for you all, this wouldn't have been possible. So, while it says that I am the author of this story, in reality, all of you wrote it for me. Thank you and I hope that, in the future, I will be writing to everyone again.

Charlieboyyy


End file.
